Free Republic

By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A group of centrist senators who halted a previous filibuster fight is making plans for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, but at least two of the group's Republicans say their decision is already made: no filibuster. ADVERTISEMENT "I don't believe that, with all sincerity, I could let that happen," Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., a member of the so-called Gang of 14, said after meeting with the federal appeals court judge whom President Bush nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Graham and Sen. Mike DeWine (news,...

...Why is the filibuster allowed in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives? The answer is that the filibuster did indeed once have a home in the House. That it doesn't anymore is a tribute to a 19th-century Republican hero: Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine. If he is recalled at all today, it is because of the memorable nickname his enemies fastened to him in the wake of Reed's successful abolition of the filibuster in the House: "Czar." ... The primary weapon of the minority was the so-called "silent quorum" or "silent filibuster." Under the House rules...

A left-wing website rescues clueless Democrats in the confirmation fight. When Melody Townsel, the Texas woman who claims that U.N.-ambassador nominee John Bolton chased her through a Moscow hotel, throwing things at her and "behaving like a madman," first tried to tell her story to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee showed no interest. It was only after she turned to the influential far-Left website DailyKos that Democrats on the committee realized Townsel might be a powerful weapon in their campaign to defeat the Bolton nomination. The story began on Friday, April 8, when Townsel e-mailed her story to...

I just got a Census update in the mail from our local Gov't. They noted I was 'randomly selected' and was very important that I respond to their request. And if I didn't respond, they would do a follow-up. Bring it on ... I put in a note saying I WILL NOT provide any information about myself or family until the Gov't (local and national) takes substantive steps to curb illegal immigration. I've had it folks. If I get anymore RNC fundraising letters I'm going to do the same.