Free Republic

The operators of a conservative Web site yesterday released three e-mail addresses they said were connected to the anonymous site user who drew a former aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) into discussions of a smear campaign against a political rival -- and one of the addresses matched that of a former state Democratic Party official. A spokesman for the Free Republic Web site said the account MD4BUSH was originally created by someone with access to the e-mail address ryanrock2004@yahoo.com . The address of record was changed twice, first to rodoherty@mddems.org and later to brianwaverly@yahoo.com , said Web...

The tree of government has far to many branches and it is past time to prune the groove. As President Bush came out swinging to defend his administration’s policy on Iraq the real issue remains obscure to the voting public. Aside from the connivance of target to expand the capitalist theory of world peace through economic control, to these eyes the effort in Iraq was a chance for the Department of Defense to prove that it was capable of fighting two wars at the same time while selling the voting public on it being one war. The C.I.A. had been...

The man who has called himself Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s "political hit man" said he would sit down yesterday for an interview with the lawyer heading up the legislative probe into the governor's hiring and firing practices. The former aide to Ehrlich, Joseph Steffen, told Baltimore radio listeners yesterday that he had volunteered to meet with attorney Ward Coe to share his insider account of how the Republican governor set about to remake the state workforce after taking office in 2003. --Snip-- At the same time, Steffen has refuted one major contention made by several employees who lost their...

As many of you know, Kristinn will be holding a press conference outside the Washington Post building about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) and the Washington Post's role in the MD4Bush saga at 9:30AM. At a minimum, local Baltimore news media are expected to attend. Please post any news about the press conference here.

Free Republic.com to Speak About MD4BUSH and the Washington Post at Press Conference Nov. 4 11/3/2005 9:56:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: City and Assignment desks, Daybook Editor, Political Correspondent Contact: Kristinn Taylor, 202-309-1589 or kristinn@verizon.net ; Web: http://www.FreeRepublic.com News Advisory: WHAT: Press Conference Free Republic to Speak About MD4BUSH and the Washington Post Newspaper Involved in Scandal that Goes Beyond Governors Race and Maryland Politics WHEN: Friday, Nov. 4, 9:30 A.M. WHERE: 1150 15TH ST., N.W., Washington, D.C., The Sidewalk in front of The Washington Post Bldg. DETAILS: FreeRepublic.com, an independent conservative news and activism Web site, will hold a press...

After months of sluggish progress, a legislative committee investigating Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich's hiring and firing practices yesterday directed its outside counsel to begin interviewing state employees who say they were fired to make room for the governor's political allies. Baltimore attorney Ward B. Coe III's marching orders came amid a growing partisan divide over the direction of the investigation and as a former aide to the Republican governor has begun talking about his role in the firings --Snip-- [MD Senate Minority Leader (R)] Stoltzfus yesterday said he may ask the committee to subpoena records of the Web site where...

--Snip-- [Ehrlich Chief Counsel] Finney suggested redirecting the investigation and added more fuel to the whodunit by releasing two e-mails that he implied could help identify MD4BUSH -- one of them allegedly written by a former staff member of the Maryland Democratic Party. That e-mail was written the night before The Washington Post reported on Steffen's postings and Ehrlich's decision to fire the aide. That e-mail advised party loyalists of a "big story" coming out. The operative, who no longer was working for the party at the time the e-mail was dated, said last night that the document was a...

DENVER — Firework shells carrying the sealed ashes of "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson (search) arrived in an armored truck at his mountain home as final preparations were being made for his star-studded farewell.

A longtime aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. who was fired in February for spreading rumors about the mayor of Baltimore apparently did not use his state computer in the effort, according to an analysis commissioned by the governor's office. The analysis of Joseph F. Steffen Jr.'s state computer, made public by Ehrlich's press office yesterday, also found nothing conclusive that would link the governor or his top aides to rumors about Mayor Martin O'Malley's personal life. "Such rumors were not spread by Governor Ehrlich's staff or other advisors," Ehrlich's counsel, Jervis S. Finney, wrote in assessing the significance...

THE WASHINGTON POST'S COVERAGE of Pope John Paul II today featured on page 1, among other things, a news "analysis" by Hanna Rosin. It had a promising title, "His Legacy: A Papacy and Church Transformed." Yet by the fifth paragraph of her 2,000-word piece, one got the impression that Ms. Rosin doesn't think much of John Paul II's legacy:  For those who expected more from the modernization--American priests ordained in the 1960s, say, Catholic women who wanted to be priests or Latin American leaders who wanted a partner in revolution--the pope not only betrayed his promise but locked the church...

Did Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz try to stoke Iran's nuclear ambition in the '70s?WHEN YOU ARE UP AGAINST the most worrisome modern security threat there is--the spread of nuclear weapons--history becomes more than an academic pastime. Get it right and you avoid the errors of the past. Get it wrong and the worst of the past is almost certain to rhyme into the future.Take the Sunday Washington Post report, "Past Arguments Don't Square With Current Iran Policy," in which Dafna Linzer describes a nuclear negotiating strategy President Ford "reluctantly" endorsed for Iran that would reap U.S. nuclear...

When Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. stood in front of the State House on Thursday and called on news reporters to investigate Michelle Lane, he said he suspected a little digging would expose her role in a politically motivated conspiracy to tar his reputation. Instead, lawmakers and public advocates have begun to review documents and e-mails that the former Ehrlich loyalist wrote in 2003 before being fired from her state job. They say Lane's correspondence may reveal something altogether different: deep flaws in the governor's handling of the state's foster care system. --Snip-- Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's communications director,...

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. accused a former state employee yesterday of trying to "blackmail" him. The woman involved said she was trying to protect herself against a retaliatory "whisper campaign" by the administration that could cost her a job. And after a winter of partisanship and allegations of political dirty tricks, the tension ratcheted up another level when Ehrlich(R) stood in front of the State House and charged that there was a campaign at work to make his administration look bad. "We really want to know about any political orchestration" by Democrats, Ehrlich told reporters. --Snip-- Yesterday [Gov....

Maryland lawmakers will convene a special investigative committee to look into allegations that an aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. engaged in political dirty tricks and participated in what one House leader called "potentially illegal hiring and firing practices." House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said the probe will start in April, immediately after the legislature adjourns its regular 90-day session. He said that details of the inquiry have not been set but that it might be conducted with the help of an independent counsel, who would be granted subpoena power. "It's something we've never done, but we've...

When an aide to Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) went online to fuel damaging rumors about the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, he entered a world where public and private boundaries are treacherously blurred and normal etiquette can easily evaporate. Joseph Steffen, who was forced to resign last week for his postings and chat room e-mails, is a high-profile example of the conflicting freedoms and dangers of the Internet. It is a medium that allows unbridled communication but also seems to encourage a measure of mean-spiritedness.

In the Blogosphere, Lightning Strikes Thrice By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page D01 The blogosphere, with its lightning speed and rough-edged sense of justice, seems to be claiming more victims more quickly. Three dramatic departures in recent days have highlighted the one-strike-and-you're-out nature of trial by Internet. Eason Jordan quit under pressure as CNN's chief news executive Friday night over his remarks on U.S. soldiers killing journalists in Iraq, following a relentless campaign by online critics but scant coverage in the mainstream press. In past episodes, journalists have been forced to resign, or news...

Web 'Privacy' Spurs Acts of Deceit Remoteness Brings Decline in Civility By Lena H. Sun Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page C01 When an aide to Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) went online to fuel damaging rumors about the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, he entered a world where public and private boundaries are treacherously blurred and normal etiquette can easily evaporate. Joseph Steffen, who was fired last week for his postings and chat room e-mails, is a high-profile example of the conflicting freedoms and dangers of the Internet. It is a medium that allows unbridled...

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his aides went on the offensive yesterday, asserting that longtime aide Joseph Steffen acted alone in propagating rumors about Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and calling accusations that Steffen participated in a purge of Democrats in state agencies "a lie." Ehrlich (R) said he was not concerned about a possible investigation into Steffen's activities by the General Assembly. "Let that investigation go where that investigation leads," he said at a news conference. "We welcome it." Ehrlich also said "everybody fully understands" that Steffen acted alone. The governor ousted Steffen on Tuesday night, shortly after...

The Web site began as a sort of Internet boutique for like-minded conservatives and libertarians, suspicious of federal power and angry at President Bill Clinton. Started in 1997 by a reclusive California conservative, freerepublic.com saw its membership blossom with Clinton's impeachment and the election of George W. Bush. Attention to the site reached a zenith last fall, when a "freeper" -- the group's moniker for its bloggers -- first discussed flaws in documents CBS News used in a report critical of Bush's National Guard service. ---Snip--- One participant working under the handle MD4BUSH, whose identity is unknown, drew Steffen into...

The political operative forced to resign by Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) for spreading rumors about the mayor of Baltimore was also at the center of an orchestrated attempt to purge the state bureaucracy of ardent Democrats, top lawmakers said yesterday. Democratic legislative leaders, who have already promised a probe into the role that longtime Ehrlich aide Joseph Steffen played in circulating rumors about Mayor Martin O'Malley (D), said yesterday that they also will examine covert efforts by Steffen and other Ehrlich loyalists to target hundreds of state employees for dismissal. "These are voiceless people, many of whom...