Free Republic

You may think racism means prejudging or discriminating against people because of their race. All right: can you define race? Go on, try it. Or host a party and challenge your guests to come up with an explanation that doesn't start a fight. Is race a biological classification, an ethnic one, a religious one, a geographic one, or what? If the meaning of race is slippery, how precise can this term it feeds - racism - be? And if the definition is what enables us to evaluate the facts, where does all this leave us? Racism today belongs to a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The leading Judiciary Committee Republican is charging that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is "out of the mainstream" of legal thinking and has a very activist judicial profile.

- see the video - The president proved yesterday he will not tolerate distractions from his hefty political agenda -- at least not those coming from pesky insects. President Obama addressed issues ranging from health care to financial industry reform in a lengthy interview on CNBC on Tuesday, but he was interrupted by a fly persistently buzzing around his head. "Hey! Get out of here," Mr. Obama said. After a few irritated swats, the president zeroed in on the pest and patiently waited for it to land on his hand. He gave it a quick smack and watched it fall...

Continuing the newfound theme of liberals proclaiming Rush Limbaugh the leader of the GOP (more on that here), activist group Americans United for Change has announced it will begin airing a TV ad dedicated, almost solely, to making that claim, calling on Republicans to reject Limbaugh's politics.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is proposing a "truth commission" to investigate abuses of detainees, politically inspired moves at the Justice Department, and whole range of decisions made during the Bush administration. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the primary goal of the commission would be to learn the truth rather than prosecute former officials, but said the inquiry should reach far beyond misdeeds at the Justice Department under Bush to include matters of Iraq prewar intelligence and the Defense Department. Leahy outlined his suggestion for a "truth and reconciliation" commission during a speech at Georgetown...

Do you sing in the car? Or shout at the bonehead on your radio? If so, you could get pulled over. That's one of the potentical consequences of a stupid suggestion this week -- by the self-proclaimed National Safety Council -- that cell phones be banned in cars. They want them done away with. They say that the piecemeal banning of cell phones -- mostly in our most liberal states -- doesn't go far enough. They won't be happy until every cell phone in every car is turned off or broken. Specifically, they say that talking on a cell phone...

Has Harry Reid Ever Read the Constitution? I ask in regard to the 17th amendment. The 17th amendment is one of my least favorite amendments but ignoring it is not an improvement nor is it legal to ignore it. First, for clarity I post how the Constitution directed the election of Senators prior to the 17th amendment. Article. 1, Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof , for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. The state legislature would choose the state’s Senators...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Roland Burris said Wednesday he should be able to join the Senate "very shortly," after talking to newly supportive Democratic leaders and working on lingering legal obstacles. Talking to reporters on the second day of a Washington power odyssey that would intimidate many, the 71-year-old Burris declared himself happy and said he was pleased with his meeting with Sens. Harry Reid and Dick Durbin. "My whole interest in this experience is to be prepared" to lead Illinois, Burris said, "and very shortly I will have the opportunity to do that." Burris' legal issues include a pending decision...

The Roland Burris circus took a ludicrous turn today as Harry Reid and Senate Democrats threw the fate of the former Illinois attorney general, who was appointed by disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the unexpired term of President-elect Barack Obama last week, back to Illinois and the office of Secretary of State Jesse White. It was White who refused to sign off on Burris, rejecting the paperwork on the appointment while making it clear he would not certify any candidate appointed by a governor who tried to to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder. At the same...

Blago's Pick Says He Doesn't Want Confrontation, Will Consult With Lawyers...

LANSING, Mich. – Democratic candidate Barack Obama doesn't want the embattled mayor of Detroit on hand when Obama accepts the party's presidential nomination in Denver.

I wish you all the best. I have tried to post tributes to the Army, info on Obama's horrendous run for office and McCain's slightly less horrible attempt. I wish you all the best but FR is just as likely to exclude people from the deabte as anyone else. They have that right, freedom to cleave to whoever you like is a right I agree with but I am guessing I am not one Jim wants associate with. I wish you all the best but I am bowing out of this forum. Have a great life. God bless u all!

BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Five parents who asked to transfer their children out of Batavia High School classes with a transsexual teacher have been denied, according to city schools Superintendent Richard Stutzman. The written requests did not meet the guidelines set out by the district, Stutzman said Tuesday without providing specifics. "That's all between the school, the teacher, the parents," he said. Other students were allowed to adjust their schedules because their requests were based on changes in their academic programs, Stutzman said. Fall classes began Wednesday in Batavia, 31 miles southwest of Rochester. Diagnosed with a transsexual disorder, the teacher...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate began debate Monday on a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit the desecration of the American flag, the latest in a series of election-year votes pushed by the chamber's Republican leaders. Observers give the flag amendment a better chance of passing than the one to ban same-sex marriages that was defeated earlier this month. That was another vote aimed at mobilizing the GOP's conservative base before November's midterm elections. A vote is expected this week, before the Fourth of July congressional recess. Sen. Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, compared the measure to...

If anyone needs further proof - not that anyone does these days - that the Republican leadership in Congress is both desperate and clueless, it's the election-year revival of that mother of all non-issues: flag desecration. The U.S. House passed this tread-worn measure last year, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it last week. Even though Congress has no shortage of real issues, ranging from the war in Iraq to global warming, clamoring for its attention, the full Senate will begin debate next week on a proposed constitutional amendment to solve a problem that doesn't exist. As if that weren't...

Flag Day 2006 was also the fifty-second anniversary of President Eisenhower signing “Joint Resolution 243,” which added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. At the Upper Senate Park, organizations like Concerned Women For America (CWA), The Religious Freedom Coalition, Eagle Forum, Ask For America, and The Traditional Values Coalition held a press conference alongside Representative Trent Franks (R-AZ), Representative Todd Akin (R-MO), Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) to urge Congress to pass the Pledge Protection Act. Representative Akin and Senator Kyl are sponsoring the bills in their respective houses that would protect the...

WASHINGTON -- Sometime between now and the Fourth of July, the Senate plans to revisit what over the course of 17 years has become a seasonal rite of patriotism on Capitol Hill: a vote on whether to amend the Constitution to ban protesters from burning the American flag. Each time, the arguments on both sides are passionate. Each time, the support needed to move ahead with an amendment falls short. But this year could be different, as two important trends cross paths. For one, proponents of the amendment appear to have more support than ever in the Senate. They say...

"Things aren't always as they seem" is an old saying with common sense. Wednesday is Flag Day. A week later the U.S. Senate will debate a proposed constitutional amendment that reads, "The Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." The vote is expected to be close. The House of Representatives has already passed this amendment. The next step would be ratification by two-thirds of the states. All 50 state legislatures have indicated they would support the amendment. Our society has accepted 30-second sound bites for news. On the surface, the...

Only 26 percent of Americans believe that their country is headed in the right direction, according to an Associated Press poll released last week. But surely brighter days are coming, thanks to the farsighted leadership of the U.S. Senate. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), one of the leading candidates for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, apparently believes that what our country really needs at this moment in its history — the thing that's gonna pull us out of our national funk and set us straight again — is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that bans flag burning....

Harris Campaign Calls on Nelson to Defend Sanctity of Marriage For Immediate Release June 6, 2006 Contact:  Chris Ingram   (813) 288-8400 (Tampa, Fla.) - The Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate campaign called on Senator Bill Nelson to support the Marriage Protection Amendment today. "I believe the majority of Americans strongly support the preservation of traditional marriage. We must never undermine the uniqueness of an institution that continues to serve as an essential thread in the fabric of our society. I support the passage of the Marriage Protection amendment being debated in the Senate," Congresswoman Harris said. Campaign spokesman Chris Ingram...