Free Republic

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's kleptocrat strongman, destroyed a mosque the other day. It was in Hatcliffe Extension, a shantytown on the edge of Harare, razed by the "police." Mr. Mugabe is an equal-opportunity razer: He also bulldozed a Catholic-run Aids center. The government destroyed the town to drive the locals into the countryside to live on land stolen from white farmers. Quite how that's meant to benefit any of those involved or the broader needs of Zimbabwe is beyond me, but then I'm no expert in Afro-Marxist economic theory.

Drat. The battle royal I predicted last week is off in the U.S. Senate. The battle was to be fought between Democrats and Republicans over what conservatives call "the constitutional option" and liberals call "the nuclear option." That it was reported throughout the media as the "nuclear option" is still more evidence the media are liberal. Obviously the argument over whether the media are liberal or not is another of America's unnecessary debates. So too is the argument over whether the president's judicial nominees are "activist" an unnecessary debate. What distinguishes the president's nominees from what in the recent past...

The arithmetic tells the story. The Democrats won the battle over who gets to shape the federal judiciary. In both tone and substance of their rhetoric, the Democrats believe they won, and who can argue with them? The Republican leadership is subdued, as befits a losers' locker room. The Republicans will pay dearly for the events of Monday night, when seven Democratic and seven Republican senators took over the leadership of the Senate, for a long time to come. Since the Republicans occupy the White House and command what ought to be a solid Senate majority of 55 members, this...

FROM MOVEON.ORG The power grab has failed! Last night, 14 senators struck a deal that, for now, takes the nuclear option off the table. It's a big blow for Bill Frist and the radical right, and a win for democracy. Join us at 8pm ET/5pm PT for a call with Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, the MoveOn staff, and other members nation-wide. Join online or get the conference call number here. Dear MoveOn member, President Bush, Bill Frist and the radical right-wing of the Republican Party have failed in their attempt to seize absolute power over the courts. Together, we've...

The Great Escape Democrats today can wipe the sweat off their brows, thanks to a small group of RHINO Republicans (Republicans In Name Only). Be assured, neither Media Elite nor their party with “honesty” in hand will speak of this near-death-experience, but in truth they were going down due to their own actions or lack there of. Most understand that Democrats last hope, with loss after loss at the ballot box, is to control the judiciary, allowing only liberal, ideologically activist judges on the bench. Without votes needed, a saving-of-face, the survival of the do-nothing, obstructionist’s party were given another...

Dear DTogo, The proposal Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist sent to his Democrat colleagues yesterday could not have been a fairer compromise to end Democrat obstruction of President Bush's highly qualified judicial nominees. Leader Frist's proposal would guarantee President Bush's nominees a fair up or down vote on the Senate floor while allowing all Senators an opportunity to have their say through a guaranteed 100 hours of debate. This is a reasonable resolution to the Democrats' unprecedented use of the filibuster against President Bush's nominees, and will ensure that the filibuster remains intact for use against legislation. Democrats are obstructing...

Four hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars plus some handsome lawyers' fees, and a crippling of police crowd-control tactics: That's the price D.C. taxpayers will pay for police incompetence in arresting demonstrators on Sept. 27, 2002. The settlement, announced this week, is a cave-in to far-left activists. It's great news for those bent on bringing Seattle-style chaos to the nation's capital, but very bad news for the rest of us who value public safety. On that September day, in the midst of an anti-World Bank protest downtown, police observed protesters flipping over newspaper stands near Pershing Park in Northwest and a...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration won't require hospitals to ask emergency room patients their immigration status.The move comes in response to protests from hospitals and advocates for immigrants.Hospitals and immigrant groups say the questions would make people afraid to seek care and lead to serious public health problems.Last year's Medicare prescription drug law includes one (b) billion dollars for hospitals that treat undocumented immigrants and absorb most of that care.To get the money, hospitals would have to ask about citizenship and how people entered the country to make sure the money was spent on emergency services for undocumented immigrants.Critics say...

Cities across China are sinking, including the capital Beijing, which has set up a warning system that state media said would act as an alert to ensure Olympics venues were not affected. According to Beijing vice-mayor Lu Hao, subsidence poses "a major threat" to the host of the 2008 Games, where infrastructure is being built at a rapid rate. To date, more than 1 800km² in Beijing have been hit, with about 50 places destroyed, including factories, buildings and ground pipelines, said Wei Lianwei, director of Beijing Institute of Geological Survey. The biggest drop was 722mm, the China Daily reported....

Following a storm of protest, CBS has yanked its sweep miniseries "The Reagans," a controversial four-hour glimpse of the 40th president and his family, sources close to the production said. CBS chief Leslie Moonves made the decision after concluding that the film was unfair to the Reagans and that even extensive edits had not produced an acceptably balanced portrayal. The only question that remains is whether the miniseries will be picked up by the cable net Showtime -- like CBS, a unit of Viacom -- or shelved entirely, sources said. The miniseries was scheduled to bow Nov. 16 on CBS....

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is prepared to dramatically intensify economic pressure on North Korea (news - web sites) through Asian allies and the United Nations (news - web sites) unless Pyongyang stops its nuclear weapons programs, U.S. officials said Saturday. The strategy hinges on the belief of U.S. officials that North Korea's neighbors, thus far unwilling to crack down on the communist regime, will grow impatient and nervous if the situation worsens. After several days of escalating tensions, President Bush (news - web sites)'s advisers are pondering ways to confront North Korea with the prospect of economic collapse if...

Dubya knowingly signed an Unconstitutional bill today. Since he seems determined to slap his base around like a crack whore whenever he takes a mind to, I propose an index to keep all this in perspective. Please index UnConstitutional, UnConservative or moves Counter to his campaign platform with *Bush_Cave_List So we can keep an itemized list handy for 2004. Then searching with keywords: to: *Bush_Cave_List In the search window will bring them all up.