Free Republic

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The story is from the Houston Chronicle. "Talk about your Monday from hell. Not only did Bridgett Nickerson Boyd's car break down on her way to work, but when she pulled over to the side of the freeway, a sheriff's deputy named Mark Goad pulled behind her, wrote her a ticket for driving on the shoulder, decided to arrest her, followed her to the hospital when her suddenly racing heart prompted a call to paramedics, then took her into custody again after she was treated by doctors and finally drove her to jail." Wait. "To make matters...

Florida governor Rick Scott spent Monday at a luncheon with African-American lawmakers, speaking to the group about the upcoming legislative session. In doing so, Mr. Scott seems have set off a debate over race and politics. “I grew up probably in the same situation as you guys,” Mr. Scott said to the group of 20 Democrats. “I started school in public housing. My dad had a sixth-grade education.” A number of state Democrats objected to the assumption. State Rep. Betty Reed said she was offended by the remark, adding “He assumed that everyone [[n the room] was poor and that...

<p>ALBANY - Gov. David Paterson claims some opponents of same-sex marriage in New York who cite religious beliefs failed to act on their faith earlier when gays and lesbians were victimized. “The fact is that for years these same individuals ... not all of them, but many of them, who pronounce religious doctrine did not exercise it when young gay and lesbian students were being bullied and chastised for expressing their points of view,” Paterson told thousands of gay rights advocates lobbying in Albany on Tuesday.</p>

The poster advertising New York University’s “Academic Freedom in the Age of Permanent Warfare” conference featured a scolding Statue of Liberty pointing an accusatory finger and stating: “YOU! Stop Asking Questions. You’re Either With US or You’re With the TERRORISTS!” The speakers and attendees gathered around the pastry-laden table at NYU’s new Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center last week didn't appear to be oppressed or under attack. But once they wiped the sugar from their mouths and stood up to speak, they assured the audience that they were, in fact, victims in an “age of permanent warfare.” According to keynote...

Relatives of the Sept. 11 victims ripped into Condoleezza Rice yesterday after she insisted the Bush administration had no clue the U.S. would be attacked. "Shame," Terry McGovern, a New Yorker whose mother was killed, yelled at the national security adviser during Rice's testimony before the 9/11 commission. Other relatives ridiculed Rice's assertion that she had no idea that Osama Bin Laden's men would hijack planes and crash them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. "How could she not know that?" asked Kristen Breitweiser, who lost her husband in the attacks. She noted that several similar threats were made,...

by Mark Finkelstein June 11, 2006 The Boston Globe's cartoon, by staffer Dan Wasserman, on the editorial page of the paper's June 11th edition, took the condemnation of Ann Coulter to new depths, suggesting that her criticism of the 'Jersey Girls'- the 9/11 widows turned harsh Bush administration critics - is equivalent to the desecration of the graves of the 9/11 victims themselves. Wasserman also swipes at what he perceives to be Coulter's brand of Christianity. If anyone has urged a muscular response to those responsible for the deaths of the 9/11 victims, it has been Ann Coulter. Wonder how...

House Democrats from Long Island and New York City on Friday joined the chorus of critics slamming Ann Coulter. The lawmakers signed a letter drafted by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) demanding that the conservative commentator apologize for saying in her new book that widows of some 9/11 victims are "enjoying" their husbands' deaths. The book refers to the four New Jersey women as "the witches of East Brunswick." "Their personal loss should never be minimized, especially in such a cold and callous way as you attack these victims in your book," Israel wrote.

I never thought I'd live to see the day that Christmas would become a dirty word. You think it hasn't? Then why is it that people are being prevented from saying it in polite society for fear it will offend? Schools are being forced to replace "Christmas vacation" with "winter break" in their printed schedules. At Macy's, the word is verboten even though they've made untold millions of dollars from their sympathetic portrayal in the Christmas classic, "Miracle on 34th Street." Carols, even instrumental versions, are banned in certain places. A major postal delivery service has not only made their...

WASHINGTON — The stink of Bernard Kerik's rotten bid to become homeland security czar hasn't stuck to his chief cheerleader, Rudy Giuliani, who is a top pick for the presidency among Republicans, a new poll shows. A whopping 68 percent of Republican voters want to see Giuliani run for the White House in 2008, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll — showing little fallout among the party base in the wake of Kerik's embarrassing exit. [snip] And it shows that if party faithful get their way, Giuliani would face off against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in an Empire...

Conservative activists who protested Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's bid to chair the Judiciary Committee are vowing are keep pressure on the liberal Republican and his Senate colleagues who have vowed to support him. A formal vote on Specter's ascension won't happen until January. Even though the nine Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are backing Specter, his support in the 55-member Senate Republican Conference remains unclear. "Anything can happen in two months," said the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, who led a protest against Specter earlier this week on Capitol Hill. "Let's face the political realities, but I don't think it's both...

First he single-handedly cost Toomey the race, and now this! If this report is correct, Rick Santorum has a LOT of explaining to do... MSNBC:Although a staunch foe of abortion and same-sex marriage, Santorum helped Specter win re-election this year and according to Specter, has been rounding up support for him as Judiciary chairman. "Sen. Santorum has been enormously helpful," said Specter Tuesday. "He's gone above and beyond the call of duty. My number one priority in the next two years is to reelect Sen. Santorum." For conservative voters who may dominate in the 2008 GOP primaries, one doubts that...