Free Republic

Senator Inhofe: Well, on this thing, it is pretty serious. And since, you know, Barabara Boxer is the Chairman and I’m the Ranking Member on Environment and Public Works, if nothing happens in the next seven days when we go back into session a week from today that would change this situation, I will call for an investigation. ‘Cause this thing is serious, you think about the literally millions of dollars that have been thrown away on some of this stuff that they came out with. Melanie Morgan: So what will you be calling for an investigation of? Senator Inhofe:...

A GOP congressional report accuses the White House of doing favors for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star and prominent ally of President Barack Obama. The report was spearheaded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 
 The investigation also found evidence that D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee handled “damage control” after allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct against Johnson, her now-fiancé. The probe was launched after an AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin, was abruptly fired...

Former actor and present White House associate director of public engagement Kalpen Modi was directly involved in planning the controversial conference call hosted by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) flack to encourage tax-supported artists to create propaganda for President Obama, according to emails obtained by Judicial Watch via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The emails reveal that Modi worked with now-former NEA national communications director Yosif Sargant in planning the August 10 conference call that was first revealed by Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood.com web site. Participants in the conference call were encouraged to use their talents...

The chief of the Justice Department’s public integrity section, which came under fire for the botched prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, is stepping down from his position. The official, William M. Welch II, who became a subject of an internal inquiry into the handling of the Stevens case, will return to Massachusetts, where he was a longtime federal prosecutor, and resume his career in that role. William W. Taylor, a lawyer representing him, said in a statement Wednesday that Mr. Welch had decided to move back to Massachusetts “for family reasons.” “While the ultimate result in the Stevens...

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Hollywood hearts Obama. Obama hearts government-directed national service. That is why you won't be able to change the TV channel all week without getting lectured about the need to get off the couch and Do Something. (After your favorite shows are over, of course.) Creeped out? You should be. The entertainment industry, inspired by Obama's $6 billion expansion of government volunteerism spending, is coordinating plot lines and ads to push public service. "The message will be nearly ubiquitous, " reports the Los Angeles Times, "starting in the morning with programs such as �Today' and �The View,' and then...

The Official Obama Administration 'Scandals' List has hit a whopping total of 750 items! This is the ultimate tea partier’s reference guide to President Barack Obama!The Official Obama Administration “Scandals” List contains scandals, mistakes, mishaps, blunders, broken promises, flip flops, gaffes, lies, etc. That’s way too long of a name, so we call it the Scandals List. Okay? Check out the amazing 15 pages of items! President Chaos keeps us very busy! There are 80 different Obama Appointment Scandals, including the latest one: Communist-lover Anita Dunn! “Ali Obama and the 40 Lies”...is an amazing list of 40 whoppers the President...

Now David Letterman knows who his friends are – and there are plenty of them. At Monday night's New York City screening of the HBO documentary Good Hair, its star and co-director Chris Rock had nothing but the best to say about Letterman, blackmail scandal or no. "He's the greatest host in the world," said Rock, 44, at the Cinema Society event sponsored by Target. "I would never make a disparaging comment about David Letterman." Talk-show host Wendy Williams is also behind Letterman 100 percent. "I like him even more," she said. "He did a disgusting thing. But I thought...

Here is video of Jay Leno mocking the whole David Letterman Scandal. Leno makes light of it in a good-natured way. . . . (VIDEO)

There is more than a bit of gallows humor in the following Torah thought, which I've heard attributed to several gedolim over the years: Question: Why is it that our children do not ask "Four Questions" on Sukkos? After all, things are far from ordinary - arguably even more so than on Pesach - when we sit down to our first Yom Tov meal outdoors in the sukkah. Answer: Throughout our 2,000-year exile, it was not at all unusual for children to see their families leaving the comfort of their homes and sleeping outdoors. However, when they saw them sitting...

Former presidential candidate John Edwards is said to be ready to admit that he fathered a love child. But Hades may have a skating rink before his wife, Elizabeth, signs off on such a confession. A source close to Elizabeth Edwards says the former Senator's wife is sniping at former Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter via an online pseudonym. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/09/27/2009-09-27_john_edwards_exmistress_rielle_hunter_targeted_by_elizabeth_edwards_in_blog_comm.html#ixzz0SL2aaST3 Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/09/27/2009-09-27_john_edwards_exmistress_rielle_hunter_targeted_by_elizabeth_edwards_in_blog_comm.html#ixzz0SL2aaST3 As a grand jury in North Carolina considers whether Edwards misused campaign funds to cover up the scandal, Elizabeth still can't abide his former mistress, Rielle Hunter. Word is Elizabeth vehemently opposed the plan, now in...

Madoff Victims Still Demanding That Taxpayers Reimburse Them For Fake Returns Yael BizouatiSep. 24, 2009, 5:15 PMMadoff’s victims will finally get their day in court Feb. 2. The victims have been fighting with Irving Picard, the bankruptcy trustee, about the right way to determine their losses. Now a judge will decide. The victims say their losses should be measured by the fictitious amount they thought they had in their accounts when the Ponzi scheme collapsed.[snip]

There are so many funky things going on with Obama and the people he surrounds himself with that it's hard to keep up. But the administration's transparent effort to squeeze artists dependent on NEA grants for support in pushing Obama's agenda is one to watch. At Powerline, John Hinderaker has a superb analysis, including consideration of the question whether criminal statutes (such as the Hatch Act) have been violated. Needless to say, if something like this happened during the Bush administration, there would already be congressional hearings and screams for the appointment of a special prosecutor. We're about to see...

John Edwards Promised to Wed Mistress; Dave Matthews to Play Ceremony Monday – September 21, 2009 11:51am John Edwards promised mistress Rielle Hunter that he'd marry her once his wife Elizabeth died of cancer, Edwards' former aide alleges in a shocking new book proposal. According to a copy obtained by the New York Times, Andrew Young claims Edwards told Hunter that the ceremony would take place on a New York rooftop and feature an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.

The ickiest detail in The New York Times story on John Edwards? Well, according to the paper, a book proposal by former Edwards aide Andrew Young says the one-time senator, one-time Democratic vice presidential candidate once promised Rielle Hunter they would marry on a New York City rooftop with the Dave Matthews Band making a special guest appearance. (While bands love publicity, I can imagine the DMB cringing at this particular association.) If I knew my husband was making plans with a girlfriend for wedding No. 2 – after my death – he could cancel any festivities because he would...

“We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view…” This statement can be found on YouTube's Community Guidlines page, and in general this statement holds true. Take, for example: the animalistic view of women that rappers promote amongst the youth of this nation, or the violent street fighting clips that develop fanbases. These videos are popular because they raise some level of controversy, and aren't considered “socially” acceptable in America.

The Edwards Drama Awaits a Denouement By NEIL A. LEWIS CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The story of the spectacular rise and fall of John Edwards, with its sordid can’t-look-away dimensions, is moving slowly but deliberately to its conclusion here in North Carolina. Mr. Edwards, the one-term senator who came close to being elected vice president in 2004 and ran a credible campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, remains largely secluded at his 100-acre estate here. But a federal grand jury in nearby Raleigh is investigating whether any crimes were committed in connection with campaign laws in an effort...

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The fireworks just keep coming in the ACORN case. Another official was fired Friday. ACORN employees were secretly recorded giving advice on everything from how to smuggle in illegal immigrants to setting up brothels for teen prostitutes. Conservatives paid for a sting that secretly videotaped employees of ACORN. The employees appeared willing to help two undercover actors, even though the two said they were setting up a brothel for teen-aged prostitutes. Posing as a female madam and a male pimp, the actors recorded ACORN employees in Maryland, New York, California, D.C. and other places – but not...

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is a scandal. This story has become breaking news lately thanks to some recent guerilla journalism. But the problems of ACORN represent a broader, and even more scandalous idea: the conventional acceptance of the left's self-righteous claims to having a monopoly on all politics, policy and lifestyles that are good. ACORN, if you haven't heard, is a radical organization that devotes itself with laser-like intensity to the maxim that all politics is local. The group supposedly exists to find affordable housing and provide social services for low-income families. But when two...

Statement from Assemblyman Mike Duvall regarding his resignation from office today: September 9, 2009 "I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state. I have come to the conclusion that it would not be fair to my family, my constituents or to my friends on both sides of the aisle to remain in office. Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work."

WASHINGTON – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said in a new book that he was not romantically involved with young Mary Jo Kopechne and that he never escaped the despair he felt after she died in the 1969 car crash that has been seared into the national consciousness as "Chappaquiddick." He acknowledged that he enjoyed women and drink — sometimes too much so — but said reports of wild Kennedy excesses were exaggerated. Yet it was the specter of Chappaquiddick that Edward Kennedy, the youngest brother, never could shake. "That night on Chappaquiddick Island ended in a horrible tragedy that haunts...

Barack Obama said the Waxman-Markey carbon tax would help create "green energy" jobs in the U.S. He is now using taxpayer dollars to fund jobs in Spain.Barack Obama sold the Waxman-Markey "American Clean Energy and Security Act" to Congress and the American people by saying that investment in so-called "green energy" would create millions of high-wage American manufacturing jobs. We received an E-mail from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (nonpartisan professional organization) that exposed Barack Obama as a blatant prevaricator who is shamelessly using our tax dollars to create jobs not in the United States but in foreign countries. We...

Potential readers should not be deterred by the vaguely Hallmarkish cover—and subtitle—of this book, both of which may be blamed on the publisher. I’m assuming that Broadway Books has a packaging-and-editing style all its own, because on page 88 it makes Elizabeth Edwards tell us something that “Edmund Wilson, the incomparable twentieth-century literary critic, said.” Perhaps someone at the firm felt that this would explain just exactly who Wilson was to a reader who didn’t know, but the effect is to be condescending and to diminish the impact of reading a senator’s wife who is well able to cite Edmund...

Colleges are generally known as safe, distinguished spaces for young people to explore their interests, prepare for a fulfilling career, and experience invaluable growth in their social, intellectual, spiritual, personal and professional lives. Sometimes, though, even the most reputable colleges are vulnerable to unethical, unfair practices that compromise the safety of students and integrity of the school’s reputation. Here, we’ll take a look at the top 10 college scandals of all time.

Only one recently-wronged political wife—Elizabeth Edwards—has written a book discussing her ordeal. But in its segment today on "forgiveness," Good Morning America ignored John Edwards and his wandering ways. When it came to polyamorous politicans, ABC focused exclusively—surprise!—on two Republicans: Mark Sanford and David Vitter. The release of the Libyan Lockerbie murderer, the Manson murders anniversary and the re-entry into the NFL of Michael Vick were the jumping-off points for the segment. But when politics popped up, the only examples bore the GOP label . . . View video here.

"My expectation is that, at some point, something happens," Elizabeth saidThe wife of philandering former Sen. John Edwards said she expects a paternity test will take place soon to determine the father of the 18-month-old child of her hubby's former mistress. In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Elizabeth Edwards confronted rumors that her cheating husband was set to claim paternity of little Frances, his alleged love child with ex-mistress Rielle Hunter. When asked about testing the paternity of the baby, Edwards said her "expectation is that, at some point, something happens. And I hope for the sake of...

John Edwards is moving the mother of his love child into his North Carolina neighborhood and will help raise their baby, The ENQUIRER reports exclusively. In a stunning change of heart, the disgraced 2 time presidential candidate loser - who's denied being the child's father for more than a year - has embraced fatherhood and wants to be intimately involved in the life of daughter Frances. The ENQUIRER also learned that his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth exploded in a rage when he told her of his parenting plans and that he's moving his mistress and baby to Wilmington, near his plush...

SNIP A female veteran Madoff employee tells Oppenheimer, "He had affairs in the office. There were two women I know of. They were gorgeous. They were blond. They were young. They were like baby Ruths -- the same type as Ruth, with the same hair color and eye color." A different Madoff insider said, "Ruth told him to stop [playing around], but he started having affairs all over the place," adding that Madoff would often give his girls cards with his private cellphone number on them. SNIP

It's a long and ignominious list. First there was Newt Gingrich. Then came Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, Chip Pickering and Vito Fossella. Now starring John Ensign and Mark Sanford. Politically, sex scandals are equal-opportunity destroyers. For every David Vitter, there is an Eliot Spitzer. For every John Ensign there's a John Edwards. For every Bill Clinton there's ... well, there's only one Slick Willie. But you get the point: Sexual scandal knows no party. Yet, a common denominator linking many political sex scandals of the last few years is the involvement of conservative Christian politicians who, it seemed,...

It's a long and ignominious list. First there was Newt Gingrich. Then came Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, Chip Pickering and Vito Fossella. Now starring John Ensign and Mark Sanford. Politically, sex scandals are equal-opportunity destroyers. For every David Vitter, there is an Eliot Spitzer. For every John Ensign there's a John Edwards. For every Bill Clinton there's... well, there's only one Slick Willie. But you get the point: Sexual scandal knows no party. Yet, a common denominator linking many political sex scandals of the last few years is the involvement of conservative Christian politicians who, it seemed, had...

Former Sen. John Edwards (D) is expected to admit that he is the father of a child born by his former mistress. So ends one of the most shameful political story in recent memory, as it ends a career. Edwards - who ran for president in 2004 and in 2008 (and was John Kerry's 2004 running mate) - was supposed to be the Democrat's best hope (before Barack Obama), in the model of Robert F. Kennedy. However, as his wife battled inoperable breast cancer, stories began swirling during the 2008 campaign that the former Senator at a love-child with a...

<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A newspaper is reporting that Louisville coach Rick Pitino told police he had sex and paid for an abortion for the woman accused of trying to extort him for $10 million.</p>

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Jury Hears Ex-MistressBY JOHN KRAHNERT III: STAFF WRITER John Edwards is back in the public spotlight, this time as a federal grand jury investigates whether his presidential campaign illegally funneled money to his former mistress. Filmographer Rielle Hunter -- who had an affair with the former North Carolina senator and presidential candidate -- spent nine hours in a Raleigh courthouse Thursday testifying in front of the grand jury. A federal investigation on the use of Edwards' campaign money continues. Edwards, who grew up in the northern Moore County town of Robbins, has denied any wrongdoing on the part of his...

“Good morning sir, how are you this fine day?” With that one text from his 22-year-old intern’s boyfriend, Republican state Sen. Paul Stanley’s professional and personal life began to unravel, as his sexual liaison with his intern became public. And the hypocrisy of the “family values” 47-year-old married lawmaker with two children came to light. Stanley announced his resignation from his office on Tuesday, effective August 10, amid growing calls for the hypocritical lawmaker to step down. Stanley issued a short statement saying, “Due to recent events, I have decided to focus my full attention on my family and resign...

Mark Sanford is trying to win his wife’s forgiveness, said George Rush and Joanna Malloy in the New York Daily News, but another married governor could be headed toward “fresh hell.” A “high-end escort” who's already said she had rough sex with then–New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is claiming that she also had three sex “dates” with another of our “most prominent governors”—call him Gov. X—whose wife is “prominent in her own right.” This story has to be “prompting a variety of quiet phone calls” among some governors' staff, said Moe Lane in RedState. As for the rest of us,...

No wonder Ed is always smiling. Just another Dem who can't keep his pecker in his pants.. Man, Ed Rendell is so screwed -- literally. I don't normally listen to Opie & Anthony looking for breaking news, but astonishingly that's what I just got. A few minutes ago, the cast of the show on Sirius XM radio were interviewing Kristin Davis -- not the one from Sex and the City, the former Manhattan Madam who spent four months in Rikers in connection with the Eliot Spitzer hooker scandal from last year. There's been quite a bit of speculation that her...

The Washington Post's ill-fated plan to sell sponsorships of off-the-record "salons" was an ethical lapse of monumental proportions. Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli have now taken full responsibility for what was envisioned as a series of 11 intimate dinners to discuss public policy issues. For a fee of up to $25,000, underwriters were guaranteed a seat at the table with lawmakers, administration officials, think tank experts, business leaders and the heads of associations. Promotional materials said Weymouth, Brauchli and at least one Post reporter would serve as "Hosts and Discussion Leaders" for an evening of spirited but...

Amid a confused array of accusations last week, Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) took to the podium to clarify the nature of his romantic life. With honesty that would make a pilgrim proud, he confirmed the media’s suspicion that his love had been divided between two parties: his Argentine paramour Maria Belen Chapur and – with recently compromised commitment – the hiking trail of the Appalachian Mountains. Sanford’s tearful, sniveling reference to Chapur as his “soul mate” made his attempted reconciliation with his wife a blanching display of equivocation; but there was one topic about which the governor was not conflicted—he...

..."Before election, Wal-Mart Bad. After election, Wal-Mart Good!!! President Barack Hugo Obama has gone from joining with democrat unions to bash Wal-mart for not hiring union workers to loving Wal-mart for supporting his idea to mandate health insurance coverage by large employers. Wal-Mart used to be the bad guy and Obama’s campaign was critical of Hillary Clinton for her ties to the Wal-Mart Board. What he didn’t tell you then is that he and his wife made a lot of money from the Treehouse Foods Co., which does big-time sales with Wal-Mart. In at least two years he and Michelle...

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Camp of Minneapolis-Saint Paul has made himself a wonderful career as a novelist under the pseudonym John Sandford. His best-selling Prey series features Minneapolis supercop Lucas Davenport. In one recent volume a character asks Davenport: "Why is it that Democrats are always having money scandals and Republicans are always caught in sex scandals?" Lucas replies: "My theory is that Democrats are guys who know how to get girls but not how to make money. Republicans are guys who know how to make money but not how to get girls. When they each encounter both readily...

The book proposal from a man who was one of former Sen. John Edwards' closest aides claims that Edwards promised him to "take care of you for life" in return for falsely claiming he was the father of the baby carried by Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter. The aide, Andrew Young, sold his book proposal to St. Martin's Press for an undisclosed price late last week. In his proposal, Young quotes Edwards, a Democrat who was his party's vice-presidential nominee in 2004 and ran for president last year, as begging him to confess to fathering Hunter's baby. "'You know how much...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A cell phone text exchange between Portland Mayor Sam Adams and the young man who was briefly his lover predicts "we are both ruined" shortly after the affair became public early this year. In documents released by the Oregon attorney general’s office on Tuesday, a four-page redacted summary of e-mail exchanges between Adams and Beau Breedlove last January show mutual concern for the breaking scandal. In one exchange on Jan. 27, apparently from Breedlove to Adams, Breedlove writes: "Well, now we are both ruined. Disgraced and ashamed. I’m sorry Sam." He continues: "I’m the felon, the slutty...

The prosecution in the corruption trial of former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and others gave jurors a tantalizing glimpse of what authorities called a web of intrigue in which black leaders solicited bribes from white developers because, they said, it was time for those developers to pay. “The game has done changed,” defendant Darren Reagan is heard saying on an audio tape played during opening statements by the prosecution. Defense opening statements were taking place this afternoon. In a surprising development, Hill's attorney, Ray Jackson, said his client would take the stand during the trial. Prosecutors say Reagan...

The New Culture of CorruptionDemocrats step up their corruption game By ROBERT A. GEORGE Updated 7:45 PM EDT, Fri, Jun 26, 2009 New joke going around Washington: "Republicans hike the Appalachian Trail; Democrats hike your taxes. Either way, someone's getting screwed." As, the old saying goes -- some of the truest things are said in jest. Washington Republicans -- more in the minority than they have been in decades -- are somewhat haplessly hoping that the Democrats mess up their own policies, rather than figure out how to stop them themselves. So, in the meantime, they keep themselves busy by...

If you're a governor who's in the doghouse for marital infidelity, is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all?

Conyers says little about wife's legal troublesBy COREY WILLIAMS and JEFF KAROUB, The Associated Press 11:15 a.m. June 27, 2009 DETROIT — On the day City Councilwoman Monica Conyers stepped into a federal courtroom at home in Detroit to plead guilty to bribery, her husband was at home in Washington. Several of Rep. John Conyers' colleagues in the U.S. House said they weren't aware his wife could soon wind up spending five years in prison. Rather than take the easy shot, the top Republican on the House ethics committee declined to comment. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat and...

Monica Conyers, the wife of the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., pleaded guilty to one count of bribery in a federal court in Detroit, this morning. According to court documents, in late 2007, Mrs. Conyers, president pro tem of the Detroit City Council, twice accepted envelopes filled with cash, once in the parking lot of a Detroit McDonalds. Mrs. Conyers faces up to 5 year in prison, three years supervised release and/or a $250,000 fine. Calls to an attorney for Mrs. Conyers were not immediately returned. Jackson was working as a consultant for Synagro...

Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers appeared in Federal Court to plead guilty to felony charges that could put her behind bars for up to 5 years. Documents say she knowingly conspired to accept bribes or things of value while an agent of the City of Detroit. She also faces fines of up to $200,000. Action News has obtained the court documents that charge Conyers with 'Conspiracy to Commit Bribery Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds.' A cloud of suspicion has lingered over the councilwoman, concerning her role in the Synagro Sludge scandal. Charging documents from the U.S. Attorney's office allege she...

Former Queens Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio faces 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to taking secret payments from Jamaica Hospital officials. In a booming voice, the tough-on-crime Democrat put the finishing touches on a 30-year legislative career with three words: "Guilty, your honor." "I knew that my conduct was illegal and wrong, your honor," Seminerio told Manhattan Federal Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on Wednesday. Seminerio, 74, resigned his seat representing Queens' 38th District Tuesday. Manhattan federal prosecutors say he pocketed more than $1 million in consulting fees by promising hospitals, nonprofits and others inside access in Albany.

South Carolina Rep. Bob Inglis made a name for himself in the late 1990s as one of Bill Clinton's most zealous pursuers, an impeachment "manager" who attacked the moral failings of the president with a gusto that earned him a devoted following in the staunchly conservative "Upstate" of conservative South Carolina. But with his governor now felled by similar temptations, Inglis sees an opening for the Republican Party, a chance to "lose the stinking rot of self-righteousness" and "to understand we are all in need of some grace." This is not "Bob Inglis 1.0," the one that was a "self-righteous"...