Free Republic

Rev. Jesse Jackson, the polarizing civil rights activist, is calling for Little League International to return the U.S. championship to the 12-year-olds from Jackie Robinson West, mere hours after Little League stripped the team of its title. And if that doesn't happen, Jackson said Wednesday afternoon, he may take legal action. Jackie Robinson West — consumed in a vortex of allegations involving ineligible players and illegally redrawing its league boundaries — became a feel-good story in Chicago and across the country on its run to the Little League World Series. An all-black team that was supported by MLB players, Jackie...

The Jackie Robinson West sluggers from Chicago’s struggling South Side became national celebrities this summer when they hit and pitched their way to the Little League World Series and took home the U.S title. But now the adults who put together the team — parents, coaches and league administrators — face allegations they violated Little League residency rules by stacking the lineup with All-Star ringers from the suburbs to create a “super team” that became champs.

With helmets and hats hung low, a Little League team from Cumberland, Rhode Island, gathered to hear the words of their coach after a heartbreaking loss to Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West in the Little League World Series Monday. Cumberland scored five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 7-6 lead, but couldn’t score in the last two innings and in the end was eliminated from the tournament. Despite their loss, Coach Dave Belisle’s touching words on the infield after the game are keeping the team in the limelight a little bit longer. “Heads up high. Heads up...

Boy, our political debate is getting crasser by the moment. And so it is that the National Organization for Women has put the Little Sisters of the Poor, an international congregation of Roman Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to caring for the elderly poor, on its "Dirty 100" list. NOW is upset that the Little Sisters sued the federal government, arguing that new ObamaCare mandates are inhibiting their constitutional right to freely practice their faith - that their vow to advance the dignity of life for every person, no matter how weak or unwanted, means they can never...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2012 – Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told reporters today: On Sept. 11, 2012, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey and U.S. Africa Command commander Army Gen. Carter F. Ham discussed the situation in Benghazi soon after they were notified of the assault... “There were discussions here at the highest levels including the secretary as to what kind of response we might be able to provide.. //Snipp// Time passes. 0 heads off to bed, in the AM pauses but briefly for garden spin - then forward...

Full title: Judicial Watch Obtains ‘4 to 5 inch Stack’ of ‘Overlooked’ CIA Records Detailing Meetings with bin Laden Filmmakers Obama Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications: Obama White House ‘trying to have visibility into the UBL (Usama bin Laden) projects.’ (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Defense (DOD) regarding meetings and communications between government agencies and Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal in preparation for their film Zero Dark Thirty, which details the capture...

Rush Limbaugh opined on his radio program today how difficult it can be to get liberals to understand how wrong they are. I have been thinking about this problem for some time, and have written variations of how to explain the errors of liberalism. My goal is to analyze and explain political theory in a way that leads not only to truth but to its application for a successful society. I’m sure I will find better ways to express these concepts, but this short blog is the culmination of years of thought on the subject. The dirty little secret of...

High-stakes negotiations force people to reveal what they really care about, and in the 11th-hour deal to stave off a federal financial default, President Obama and congressional Democrats and Republicans each made clear their top priorities. For Republicans, it was preventing any tax increase to upper-income families. For Democrats, it was ensuring no cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and a handful of other programs that aid the elderly and the poor. And for Obama, it was getting a deal that would end the threat of an economy-shaking default until after the 2012 presidential election. None of the key players was...

Talk about a parent totally striking out. Janet Chiauzzi, an East Meadow, N.Y. mom, has been arrested and charged with stalking, falsely reporting an incident, endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated harassment, allegedly because her son did not make a summer baseball travel team, "Today" reports. Chiauzzi allegedly threatened the Little League official she deemed responsible, sending letters to his kids' school that accused him of physical and verbal abuse, according to the news show, and even addressed the official's own young son. "If something happens to your dad or mom, or your sister, you can blame your...

Seven or more Senate Republicans have signaled Gov. Cuomo that they're ready to legalize same-sex marriage, more than enough to put the controversial and historic measure over the top this week, The Post has learned. A highly knowledgeable Senate insider said yesterday that "far more of the [GOP] members are in play than anyone realizes, including some surprising names from conservative upstate areas." [Snip] Influences contributing to the changes of heart are secret Republican polls showing majority support for gay marriage in key swing districts and the strong possibility that the GOP could lose control of the Senate next year...

President Obama has used recess appointments in the past to get controversial nominees into the positions he chose for them. So the Republicans employed a little used legislative gambit to block the president's expected recess appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head up the new Consumer Finance Protection Board. The Hill: GOP opposition is preventing the Senate from completely adjourning for the Memorial Day recess. Instead, the chamber will come in for three pro-forma sessions over the next 10 days. The cursory sessions are a formality that will ensure President Obama does not make recess appointments, a prospect that was considered...

I read this on Iowa Hawk this morning and had to share. It’s very clever. (this song is sung to the tune of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”) Overseas-Contingencies-Kinetic-Aliocious In trying to explain himself when bombing foreign lands, It behooves a modern president to keep his prose in hand. One little slip in lexicon accounting for the rubble Will end up in congressional investigative trouble. Ohhhhhh! Overseas-contingencies-kinetic-aliocious I must admit the messaging is really quite atrocious But if you say it soft enough, you’ll always sound precocious, Overseascontingencieskineticaliocious! Um-diddle-diddle-um-diddleye Um-diddle-diddle-um-diddleye In olden days they called this thing a stale three-letter word But in this...

Thuggery? What thuggery? Oh, yeah. That thuggery: A Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts is raising the stakes in the nation’s fight over the future of public employee unions, saying emails aren’t enough to show support and that it is time to “get a little bloody.” “I’m proud to be here with people who understand that it’s more than just sending an email to get you going. Every once and awhile you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody when necessary,” Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Ma.) told a crowd in Boston on Tuesday rallying in solidarity for Wisconsin...

Former New Jersey governor Tom Kean tells National Review Online that he’s keeping an eye on the 3rd congressional district, where Republican Jon Runyan, a former NFL lineman, is locked in a close race with Rep. John Adler, a freshman Democrat. “I think we’re competitive there,” Kean says. “We should pick that up. I’ve spoken with Democrats in the district, people who’ve seen the internal polling, and they’re all pretty downcast.” Another clash to watch, Kean says, is in New Jersey’s 6th, where Tea Party favorite Anna Little is challenging veteran Rep. Frank Pallone. The district, Duncan Currie points out,...

2 little words started race for mayor: forensic auditJohn Kass October 6, 2010 Before we feast on the tribalism and intrigue of the upcoming Chicago mayoral campaign, let's not forget something. Let's not forget the guy who may have started it all. He did it by uttering two little words, and they echoed ominously through Chicago's political sub-basements. Just days after the two little words were said, Mayor Richard Daley announced he wouldn't seek re-election. Remember those two little words? "You mean, 'forensic audit'?" said Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd. "Those two little words?" Precisely. Forensic audit. **SNIP** And Emanuel? He's...

Republican 6th District challenger Anna C. Little on Friday continued her criticism of the House motion to adjourn before taking up tax-rate extension, and of her opponent, incumbent Democrat Frank Pallone, for voting in its favor. In the process she discussed the practical consequences of what she says will be the largest tax increase in American history. Last Wednesday, the House voted 210-209 to adjourn after taking up a number of specific measures—and the extension of the tax rates set in 2001 was not one of them. Every Democrat from New Jersey (except John Adler, 3rd) voted for that motion....

HIGHLANDS — Republican congressional challenger Anna Little – responding to further news reports indicating that Congress will likely recess without first holding a vote on whether or not to extend the current tax rates – urged voters to hold her opponent, 22-year incumbent Democrat Frank Pallone, accountable. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been debating an extension of Bush-era cuts to the federal income tax rates for months. Democrats want to extend the cuts for taxpayers who make less than $200,000 per year and couples making less than $250,000. Republicans want to extend the cuts to higher income earners as...

A physical altercation took place between a volunteer for Representative Frank J. Pallone (D-NJ-6) and the campaign treasurer of his challenger, Anna C. Little, in Atlantic Highlands last night. The incident took place in front of witnesses and involved police. According to Russell Cote, Little's field operations director, the altercation took place at approximately 11:30 p.m. on First Avenue in Atlantic Highlands, not far from Little's campaign headquarters. The altercation began when a team of supporters of the Pallone campaign began placing signs on the street, and Anna Little's volunteers, led by Cote, began placing signs of their own, within...

Although Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. has held the congressional seat of the 6th district of New Jersey for 22 years, his challenger believes he has lost touch with his constituents. "There's a disconnect between the people of district six and their elected representative," said Anna Little, the Republican candidate facing Pallone. "He does not listen to them. He thinks he knows better than they do, and they are irate." But Pallone feels the opposite and believes he is in touch with his constituents, especially students, considering the University falls within his district's territory. "A main issue I've been working...

Anna C. Little, the Republican challenger to Democrat Frank Pallone (D-NJ-6), today endorsed the Republican "Pledge to America" manifesto released two days ago. In her endorsement of the 21-page document, Little said, "[T]he 'Pledge to America' is not just a governing agenda that will take power away from Washington and put it back in the hands of the people, where it belongs, it's a modern-day restatement of the principles on which our nation was established." For too long, too many decisions have been made in Washington by political elites who don't seem to care what the American people think...Every decision...