Free Republic

NEWARK, N.J. - Gov. Jon Corzine says it might have been a "good idea" to use different wording in a campaign commercial criticized by some as a cheap shot at his Republican opponent's girth. The ad accused Chris Christie of "throwing his weight around" to get out of traffic citations while he was New Jersey's top federal prosecutor. It included unflattering images of Christie struggling to exit an SUV. Appearing Monday on CNN's "The Situation Room," Corzine said the choice of words may have distracted viewers from the real issue: abuse of power. Christie has acknowledged that he's struggled with...

Yes, Democrat operatives and their lawyers cost Alaska 80% of their operative time and 2 million in debt, but she also said her family has become a HALF MILLION in debt from these operatives.

Today, delegates to the Republican Convention (this weekend) started receiving mystery robocalls, with a child's voice....about Brownlee "throwing grandpa in jail" and directing people to a website that is critical of Brownlee and his past behavior: http://johnlbrownlee.com/ This website has the actual audio of the call: http://starcityharbinger.com/?p=6298 Website owner Brian Gentry denies being part of the calls...and both the Cuccinelli and Foster campaigns have released statements denying connection to the calls. The calls are so juvenile and poorly done, I cannot believe they would change anybody's mind...and I doubt that a major campaign is behind this ************************************************* Statement of Dave...

We are often exposed to the corroding acid of the politics of personal destruction, but I've never seen anything like this ? this wrenching break between pastor and parishioner before our very eyes. Both men no doubt will carry the grief to their graves. All the rest of us should hang our heads in shame for letting it come to this in America, where the gluttony of the non-stop media grinder consumes us all and prevents an honest conversation on race. It is the price we are paying for failing to heed the great historian Jacob Burckhardt, who said "beware...

Robert Gibbs takes on Sean Hannity Over the top. Gibbs got really slimey .. took out a piece of paper and read off talking points about Andy Martin's views, who was one of Sean's Sunday show guests, and which Gibbs twisted to infer Sean and FNC were anti-Semitic.

Where is the wisdom of Mike Royko when you need it? Royko was by far Chicago’s most beloved political columnist. His scathingly brilliant, uproariously funny writings on the Chicago political machine not only shone a light in the dark corners of corruption, favoritism, and mobbed up businesses of Richard J. Daley’s City Hall, he had fun doing it. A small sample: Several theories have arisen as to what Mayor Daley really meant a few days ago when he said: “If they don’t like it, they can kiss my ass.” On the surface, it appeared that the mayor was merely admonishing...

http://dustinsgunblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/unbelievable-attempt-at-ammunition-ban.html So far 10 States have bills that want to enact ammo serialization. It turns out that two Seattleites stand to make a hefty profit if the legislation goes through... Ravensforge inventors of record are Mr Steve Mace of Seattle, Washington and Mr Russel H Ford also of Seattle. As if by magic they have a patent pending for this magical system (Ravensforge is connected to the microstamping technology that California bought into recently.) It is very interesting to see that as part of their About Us mission statement they boldly state that the implementation requires legislation. Interestingly enough they...

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, the Clintons should bask in the glow of McCain's Clintonian gloss on this fact: Ten months ago Romney said that President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki should discuss, privately, "a series of timetables and milestones." That unremarkable thought was twisted by McCain, whose distortions are notably clumsy, as when Romney said, accurately, that he alone among the candidates has had extensive experience in private-sector business. That truth was subjected to McCain's sophistry, and he charged that Romney had said "you haven't had a real job" if you had a military career. If,...

1. We expect promises of change from Democratic candidates, but it's disappointing to watch certain Republican candidates yield to that superficially seductive sound bite, too. It's like the global-warming freight train, which few politicians have displayed the guts and character not to board. 2. It's disappointing to watch candidates from both parties accept the premise that criticizing your opponents' records and pointing out their inconsistencies and lies is engaging in dirty politics. It is not dirty but obligatory to draw distinctions between you and your opponents. Dirty politics is distorting one's record or spreading lies about a candidate. Why do...

The retired general who asked about gays and lesbians serving in the military at the CNN/YouTube Republican debate on Wednesday is a co-chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton's National Military Veterans group. Retired Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr was named a co-chairman of the group this month, according to a campaign press release. He was also active in John F. Kerry's 2004 campaign for president. Kerr asked candidates “why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.” After the debate, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett said on a CNN panel...

WASHINGTON - The first victim of Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt's most recent crusade, Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, stepped forward last week, admitting that he had used a Washington prostitution service. The sudden announcement, which was clearly rushed out to beat Flynt to the punch, portrayed the ordeal as old news. Nothing more than past actions he regretted, a mistake allegedly long since forgotten by both him and his wife. But as the senator tried to control the news cycle, the blogosphere dug up Vitter quotes about "family values" and "strong marriages," and Flynt reigned over the airwaves,...

If I was a gambler, my money would be on Hillary Clinton being the guilty party in this one and I am seriously wondering if Sandy “The Burglar” Berger may have been spotted lurking around Davenport, Iowa. After all, he was convicted and disbarred for STEALING important Security documents from the National Archive to protect and cover up for the Clinton’s appalling approach to national security and their irresponsible defence of Americans from Islamic Terrorism during the 1990’s. DAVENPORT, Iowa The Davenport, Iowa, campaign headquarters for presidential candidate Barack Obama was burglarized Friday evening. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor says two...

Republican Fred Thompson, who likes to cast himself in the role of Washington outsider, has a long history as a political insider who earned more than $1 million lobbying the federal government. As a lobbyist for more than 20 years, billion-dollar corporations paid Thompson for his access to members of Congress and White House staff. During that time he was close to two Senate majority leaders, both from his home state of Tennessee - his political mentor Howard Baker and, more recently, his former colleague Bill Frist. During Baker's tenure, Thompson lobbied for a savings-and-loan deregulation bill that helped hasten...

“Obama Just Got Less ‘Brown’ Friendly,� reads the Indian American blog Sepia Mutiny. The US-India Political Action Community, having elicited one tepid pseudo-apology from the Barack Obama campaign, then demanded an acceptably contrite expression of contrition. Barack Obama’s macaca moment is hardly the campaign killer that George Allen’s proved to be, but the spectacle of a Kenyan Kansan would-be president deflecting criticism from pro-trade Indian Americans is at least more interesting. Last week, Obama’s campaign sent out a not-for-attribution memo to media professionals, slamming Hillary Clinton for courting Indians and the Indian American Community. The dossier, delicately titled “Hillary Clinton...

Remember the Republican culture of corruption? The revolving door of Republican politicians moving in and out of top political offices and Washington D.C. lobbying firms? That's Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson. For years, acting wasn't the Law & Order star's profession -- it was a hobby. In the real world, Thompson has made a fortune in a decades-long career as a Washington lobbyist. And just this month, as part of his role as the ultimate Washington insider, Thompson offered to host yet another fundraising event for Scooter Libby's legal defense fund. Thompson has been vocal in his support of Libby,...

WATCH THE VIDEO AND PASS IT ON TO YOUR FRIENDS There is a reason that CNN has been known as CLINTON NEWS NETWORK. Rick Kaplan made it so. And now, it gets even better. The man in charge of the polling for CNN is a personal friend and big donor of the Clintons. Learn all about Vinod Gupta. He is in the perfect position to skew poll questions to benefit Hillary. BILL'S UGLY BUDDY (PAYMENTS FROM SCANDAL-TIED FIRM) CNN Pollster Vinod Gupta donates $1000 to Hillary Clinton - "She'll be our next President" CLINTON PAL EYEBALLED (InfoUSA CEO Vinod...

Democrats plan scandal offensiveBy: Jeff Patch and Patrick O'Connor April 24, 2007 03:27 PM EST House Democrats plan to recycle their "Culture of Corruption" slogan this week in an attempt to further tar congressional Republicans as scandals continue to plague the GOP. Democratic leaders hope this spring offensive puts Republicans on defense when the majority introduces a lobbying reform package early next month.Their most recent campaign targets a series of alleged misdeeds, including the controversy surrounding eight fired U.S. attorneys and the recent FBI raids of California Republican Rep. John Doolittle's home in Northern Virginia and a business associated...

It’s tempting to believe that the terrible revelation of Elizabeth Edwards’ incurable cancer will benefit the John Edwards candidacy, and that the understandable sympathy generated by the announcement will render the campaign immune to political attack. But precedent suggests otherwise. Last week’s announcement that Mr. Edwards’ wife and frequent campaign surrogate is now facing incurable Stage IV breast cancer should call to mind the story of Paul Tsongas, the Massachusetts Democrat who sought his party’s Presidential nomination in 1992, five years after receiving a bone-marrow transplant to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the disease that had prompted him to give up his...

Rep. Heather Wilson has long been among the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress, eking out wins in a Democratic-leaning New Mexico district because of her independent reputation and persistent campaigning. She now faces a new challenge to her future as well as her reputation: involvement in a growing political tempest over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys by the Justice Department. Wilson acknowledged Monday night that last October she contacted then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to inquire about the pace of a corruption probe against the state treasurer, a Democrat. But she firmly denied calling to pressure Iglesias to...

Finally, a Republican scandal that may stick Usually when the Republican chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children instant-messages an underage boy and asks him to get out a ruler to measure his... Well. Ahem. Let's just say: Usually when a congressman is involved in a scandal, he doesn't bring the whole party down with him. This time could be different. The Mark Foley affair is so simple and so human, it's like a Cliffs.Notes version of all the other Republican scandals: Rampant corruption. Leadership? Ha. No one cares till the klieg lights get turned on. THE...

Update: More on Mike Rogers. He edits this site, which used to be affiliated with Raw Story. Interestingly enough, one month before that small site that broke the news showed up, Rogers closed down his old blogger site “Blogactive” and started a new one under a new URL. More on this later if I find something of interest. Update: Well, folks should have known I would turn an eye on the blog site that was used to “expose’ Folely’s problems. One thing to note is it would not be impossible for the Dems to know of Folely’s issues. So let’s...

Washington County Commissioner Diana L. Irey seized on a report Tuesday from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington that targeted her opponent in this fall's 12th Congressional District race, U.S. Rep. John Murtha. Irey hand-delivered a letter to U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's downtown Pittsburgh office in the U.S. Courthouse calling for an investigation to determine if Murtha violated federal law. Irey based her request on the Ethics Reform Act of 1989, asking for a probe into whether Murtha accepted "campaign contributions in exchange for placing earmarked appropriations into legislation he is largely responsible for drafting and pushing to...

One of Virginia's best-known political analysts said he had never personally heard Sen. George Allen use racial epithets, despite saying on television a day earlier that the senator "did use the n-word." Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press, "I didn't personally hear GFA (Allen's initials) say the n-word. "My conclusion is based on the very credible testimony I have heard for weeks, mainly from people I personally know and knew in the '70s," Sabato wrote. Sabato, a classmate of Allen's at the University of Virginia...

Los Angeles -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides on Thursday maintained his campaign did nothing wrong when it downloaded an audio tape of a private meeting from the governor's Web site. Instead, the state treasurer sought to steer the debate away from the legal or ethical questions of obtaining the file and focus attention on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's comments. The governor was overheard on the tapes, during a private meeting with staff members last March, remarking about the fiery temperament that results from the mixing of "black blood" and "Latino blood." "As I understand it, this audiotape was downloaded from...

Charlie Crist confronted an 18-year-old claim that he fathered a child with a St. Petersburg woman, calling it "absolutely false" on Sunday as a secret campaign was launched near the end of the Republican primary for governor to leak the paternity dispute to the press. Documents faxed anonymously to the St. Petersburg Times show that in 1989 Rebecca O'Dell Wharrie said Crist was the father of a baby she wanted to place for adoption. Crist signed an affidavit denying paternity and relinquishing any parental rights. "Parenthood by myself is not possible as I never consummated the act necessary for parenthood,"...

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's campaign Web site remained offline Thursday, and federal and state authorities were investigating why it crashed on the eve of this week's defeat in a high-profile primary. The site, Joe2006.com, appeared to have suffered from a so-called "denial of service" attack, in which computers overwhelm a site with fake traffic so real visitors can't get through, said Richard M. Smith, an Internet security consultant in Brookline, Mass. The Lieberman campaign denied speculation among liberal Web pundits that the centrist Democrat's Web site had simply crashed because it used a low-budget Web host unable to handle the...

Seeks to clear way for independent in US Senate bid... Vermont's Democratic Party is maneuvering to keep the Democratic candidates for the state's open US Senate seat off the November ballot, as party leaders seek to clear the way for independent Representative Bernard Sanders in his bid for the Senate. State Democratic leaders are spearheading efforts to gather signatures to put Sanders on the ballot as a Democrat, even though Sanders has repeatedly said he would turn down the party's nomination if he wins the primary. At least three other candidates have announced their intention to run for the Democratic...

Buffeted by questions about his honesty and investigations into his wife's multimillion-dollar stock options, DFL endorsee Matt Entenza dropped out of the race for state attorney general Tuesday. Buffeted by questions about his honesty and investigations into his wife's multimillion-dollar stock options, DFL endorsee Matt Entenza dropped out of the race for state attorney general Tuesday. With wife Lois Quam, a top executive of UnitedHealth Group, at his side, Entenza stood on the steps of the State Capitol and said he was withdrawing despite his confidence that he still could win the election to succeed Attorney General Mike Hatch, the...

AUSTIN - A federal judge hearing a ballot dispute Monday involving former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay said he thinks that DeLay withdrew from the November election, indicating potential trouble for Republicans who want to name a replacement candidate. "He is not going to participate in the election and he withdrew," said U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, who did not issue an official ruling after a daylong trial regarding DeLay's status as the GOP nominee for the 22nd Congressional District. Jim Bopp, a lawyer for the Republican Party of Texas, disagreed, telling Sparks "there's been no withdrawal." Bopp said that instead,...

Democrats believe making embryonic stem cell research a campaign issue will help them in their effort to gain a majority in the House of Representatives in November’s elections.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has unveiled new advertisements that target seven Republicans who oppose federal funds for stem cell research that results in the destruction of embryos. The Democrats plan to promote the controversial issue with fervor in areas where there are large medical centers or biotechnology companies, the Chicago Tribune reported March 27. They also plan to use the ads in congressional districts known for politically moderate voters but represented...

<....snip....> What a condescending remark - but what a useful example of liberal racism. Mention the words "liberal" and "racism" in one sentence in a classroom at one of the nation's most elite universities, and you'll get blank stares. For a lot of people on the left, the phrase is an oxymoron. They really don't seem to know what it means. How can liberals be racist? How can people dedicated to promoting tolerance be guilty of intolerance?

<p>"We have double sourced that the vice president's chief of staff has been indicted," a reporter for ABCNEWS claimed to a White House press spokesman this afternoon.</p> <p>The White House refused to comment on the claim. The network said they didn't need comment, they were preparing to run with the development on this evening's network news broadcast, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.</p>

   "Protecting Freedoms, Strengthening Families" Weekly Issues Alert    Special AlertOctober 24, 2005 BEWARE - Misleading Information Spreading about Prop. 2 Political Advertising Campaign, "Save Texas Marriage," Is a Fraud! Special Message from Free Market Foundation President Kelly Shackelford, Esq."Deceptive phone calls are now going out telling people to vote NO because of a supposed flaw in the legislation of Prop. 2.  There must be a lot of them because we are getting calls from a number of supporters who are confused.  The calls from "Save Texas Marriage" are so deceptive that they are even ending the call saying "God Bless You."  One of...

(snip) The resulting film is called The Big Buy, made by Texas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck. (emphasis added) Jim Schermbeck is not just a filmmaker. I have been looking into Schermbeck's odd connection to the DeLay case for the past couple of weeks. Go to this web site, and scroll down to the bottom. See a familiar name? It's Jim Schermbeck, "filmmaker." And leftwing activist. Check out this sympathetic story in the Dallas Observer, which identifies Schermbeck not as a filmmaker, but as an environmental activist. A couple of weeks ago I spoke via phone with Harold Green,...

Have you heard about what New York Sen. Charles Schumer's meddling minions tried to do here in my home state of Maryland to embarrass a Republican opponent? Don't bother with the New York Times if you want details. Since revelations of the scandal first broke a week ago on the national wires and in the rest of the New York media, the Times has failed to print a single word about the Dems' invasive -- and obviously illegal -- dumpster diving. Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a rising star in the party, is considering a Senate bid for the Maryland...

Reuters - Sat Sep 3, 4:20 PM ETRev. Al Sharpton (R) holds a motherless child along with Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee (L) as they visit survivors of hurricane Katrina on the floor of the Astrodome in Houston, Texas September 3, 2005. President George W. Bush ordered more troops to help evacuate and secure New Orleans on Saturday as rescuers moved thousands of desperate evacuees out of the city and shut down two huge shelters that had become the scene of murder, rape and chaos. Under fire for his government's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, which wrecked one of the world's...

On MSNBC a little while ago, they had a story about the "politics of the CIA leak". The reporter was interviewing Pat Buchanan and Democratic strategist Peter Fenn. What follows is the best transcript I could piece together quickly. I've quoted Fenn word for word. PAT BUCHANAN: It's very, very serious...There is a credibility problem for the press secretary...There is no legal problem for Rove...Reporters in Washington have a gleam in their eye and smiles on their faces, and there's a reason for it...Pat Fitzgerald hasn't been digging for two years and judges haven't been sending reporters to jail because...

Springfield , MO - Former Greene County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Steven Stepp has been sued in Federal Court for conspiracy to deny civil and political rights and interference with the right to equal access at a public political event. On his order, the Springfield Police Department handcuffed and detained Claire McCaskill supporters at a Greene County Democratic Event in 2003. Stepp is joined in the lawsuit by co-defendants Springfield Police Department and Choice Hotels. Choice Hotels is the parent company of the Clarion Hotel in Springfield as described in the law suit. According to the Civil Suit, Stepp was...

FLASH: LARRY FLYNT OBTAINS DIVORCE RECORDS OF BUSH UN NOMINEE JOHN BOLTON -- Divorce Records Show First Wife Fled Home When He Was Traveling Abroad... Explosive: Flynt asks questions about sex... "Allegations that Mr. Bolton’s first wife, Christina Bolton, was forced to engage in group sex have not been refuted by the State Dep't despite inquires posed by Hustler publisher Larry Flynt concerning the allegations. Flynt has obtained information from various sources that Bolton participated in paid visits to Plato’s Retreat, a popular swingers club that operated in NYC in late 1970s and early 1980s.... MORE COMING....

WASHINGTON - A labor-backed liberal organization will begin airing a scathing television ad today targeting House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in his own district. The ad by the Campaign for America's Future comes as DeLay, R-Sugar Land, faces questions about the propriety of his overseas travel and political fund raising. In Travis County, meanwhile, a grand jury continues to investigate campaign spending by a political action committee that DeLay helped organize. A spokesman for DeLay said the ad, which also will be shown in other parts of the nation, represents a heightened sense of desperation among Democrats. "This group has...

Five Democratic campaign staffers who allegedly slashed the tires of 25 Republican get-out-the-vote vans on Election Day in Milwaukee will stand trial on felony charges. The defendants, who include the sons of a congresswoman and former acting mayor, face a maximum three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of vandalism. The vans were rented by the GOP to drive voters to the polls. On Election Day, the five left Milwaukee just after 3 a.m. and returned shortly thereafter, according to the pretrial testimony of two Democratic presidential campaign workers, Levar Stoney and Opel Simmons....

Signs of dirty politics By Tommy McIntyre, Staff WriterVenice Gondolier10/13/2004 Election campaign vandals keep pushing the envelope. But this is the worst year GOP campaign worker and Venice businessman Joe Brower has ever seen. "I just want this known so the Democratic leaders will get their crazies in check," Brower said. "This is the kind of stuff that happens in Bolivia." Sarasota County Democratic Party Chairman Harold O. Miller said he also is upset about the vandalism and Brower's comments. He particularly derided Brower's remark about Bolivia. "He (Brower) is completely wrong and it is shocking to hear him make...

Think Michael Moore offering his underwear to get slackers to vote was bad? Now he's wearing them first. Yukkers! Check out: http://moveonplease.org/moorewear.asp

ISSUE 2 "We have to find a way not to have the politics that looks for the lowest common denominator, but one that reaches for the highest common denominator …"  Sen. John Kerry, Speech To The American Legion National Convention, Nashville, TN, 9/1/04KERRY'S COMMON DENOMINATOR___________________________________________________________________HIGHEST OR LOWEST? Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): "Senator John Kerry turned to the Bible on Thursday to go after President Bush, warning a black Baptist audience here to 'beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing.'"  (Jodi Wilgoren, "Kerry Invokes The Bible In Appeal For Black Votes," The New York Times, 9/10/04)Sen. Kerry: "For...

WASHINGTON - Three campaign finance watchdog groups filed a complaint Tuesday accusing a group of Vietnam veterans of violating the campaign finance law by airing an ad that challenges Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry (news - web sites)'s military record. Democracy 21, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Campaign Legal Center argue that the ad by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth violates a federal ban on the use of unlimited donations, often referred to as "soft money," to influence federal elections. In the ad, the group accuses Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, of lying about his war record and...

There is no serious effort afoot to restore the draft, contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet. One Web site, bushdraft.com, claims to have "absolute proof that (President) Bush is making plans to reinstate the draft by the middle of 2005." Like most rumors, these contain enough kernels of fact to sustain, if not a feeding frenzy, then a platter of tantalizing hors d'oeuvres for conspiracy enthusiasts: Draft boards are indeed being maintained, but they have been routinely funded by Congress all along. The just-approved appropriation increases the previous year's spending on Selective Service by less than 1 percent. Upon...

7 minutes ago To: National Desk, Political Reporter Contact: Phil Singer of the Kerry-Edwards Campaign, 202-464-2800 WASHINGTON, July 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) released the following statement today on Samuel R. Berger: "Sandy Berger is my friend, and he has tirelessly served this nation with honor and distinction. I respect his decision to step aside as an adviser to the campaign until this matter is resolved objectively and fairly." Paid for by John Kerry for President, Inc.

July 14, 2004 -- The top fund-raiser for New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey hired a New York City prostitute to seduce a key witness in a federal fraud case — and then sent a steamy videotape of the encounter to the witness' wife, prosecutors said yesterday.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Independent candidate Ralph Nader, denied a spot on the Arizona ballot, on Friday accused the Democrats and presidential candidate John Kerry of engaging in political "dirty tricks." Just hours before the developments in Arizona, Nader complained that the Democratic Party has "stepped up its obstruction tendencies" in challenging his ballot access. The consumer advocate said he had called the Kerry campaign three times Thursday, asking to chat with the candidate. "We have to get a clarification if they're going to engage in dirty tricks," Nader told reporters at a news conference to criticize multinational corporations. The Kerry...