Free Republic

As the Republican race is still wide open, I thought it time to review how delegates to the Republican National Convention will be allocated this year. There has been talk about a "brokered convention." And while I think that there will probably be a clear nominee come September 1, 2008 - the probability of a convention fight is much greater than it has been in the last thirty years. Accordingly, we are well advised to get a lay of the land, to see exactly how the GOP convention might proceed if there is no clear winner. We will look at...

FRiends I'm looking for help placing an 8 month old german shephard- hound mix. He was my younger brother's dog. My brother died suddenly right before Christmas. While my family would love to keep this living memory of my brother, our circumstances just aren't flexible enough. My parents already have several dogs and I live in a small townhome with 2 small children and an elderly dog of my own. So, if anyone knows of a reputable rescue society (no shelters, please) or family seeking a pet in the Cobb Co. Georgia area, please FReepmail me. Jixxer is 8 months...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 30, 2007 Columbia , SC – At a press conference held at the South Carolina State Capitol today, Presidential candidate and U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) again called on Bain Capital, a company founded by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, to drop its strategic partnership with Chinese defense contractor Huawei Technologies in a bid to buy U.S. defense contractor 3Com. Hunter also called on Romney to use his continued influence with Bain to terminate the proposed merger between Huawei and 3Com, which, according to a report in today's Washington Times, would threaten U.S. national security. "As...

In 1945 the NAZI government of Germany’s Third Reich surrendered, unconditionally, to the Allies. The war for Europe was over, and just beginning. Sixty-two years later we, the United States of America, still have troops stationed on German soil. We are there not there as an occupying force, but as allies against a nebulous threat that may or may not arise. In the summer of 2003 the coalition forces led by the United States overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. His government was abolished. Hussein was later found, tried, and executed by a jury of his peers. The Iraqi people...

April 12, 2007 - 8:56am WASHINGTON - An Amber Alert has been issued for a 2-year-old boy. Jimmy Valderama is described as a Hispanic child, who weighs about 25 pounds and has a scar on his right arm. Maryland State Police say he's with Andres J. Martinez, a 28-year-old Hispanic man who's operating a red 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse with Maryland tags 8BF-Z04. The child was last seen on Pear Tree Lane in Silver Spring about 4:30 a.m. Police say the child may be wearing beige pants and a grey jacket. Martinez is described as being 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds. He...

CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Residents in the northeastern United States braced Wednesday for strong thunderstorms that are rolling their way after spawning tornadoes in five states and causing two deaths. (snip) The NWS reported dozens of tornadoes Tuesday in Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The worst damage was reported around the Kentucky town of Madisonville,about 50 miles south of Evansville, Indiana, where a tornado killed 22 people last week. (snip) One death was reported in western Kentucky's Marshall County where a mobile home overturned and caught fire after a tornado came through Tuesday. Eight other people were reported injured,...

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - The marching band at Hylton High School in Woodbridge is going to have learn a different song. The Washington Post says the band had added "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," by the Charlie Daniels Band to its play list for an upcoming guest appearance at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. One letter, however, from a parent whose children are home-schooled, was sent to a local newspaper complaining that the song about the devil shouldn't be played at school events because of separation of church and state. The letter worked because the band's director has decided not...

I need the help of my fellow Freepers. Younger brother is a PFC fresh out of IET at Benning. Two weeks into AIT he comes down with a ruptured heel spur and gets a non-duty medical profile. Doctor wants to muster him out with a "pre-existing condition" discharge with no record of time served and no benefits, but the kid is mad for the Army and wants to stay in. His current MOS is straight infantry (don't ask me why!). He would like to transfer to an MOS that doesn't require 40 mile road marches in full gear which obviously...

I know these threads are frowned upon but seriously I have been searching all morning. I know someone posted an article earlier this week in which Nancy Reagan expressed her support for GW Bush. Can anyone help me find it?

LONDON - A woman in Mexico gave birth to a healthy baby boy after performing a Caesarean section on herself with a kitchen knife, doctors said Tuesday. The unidentified 40-year-old woman, who lived in a rural area without electricity, running water or sanitation and was an eight-hour drive from the nearest hospital, performed the operation when she could not deliver the baby naturally.

Republican leaders told rank-and-file Senators last week that the chamber will be a “battleground” in this presidential election year and unveiled a plan intended to promote the GOP’s positions on six specific issue areas in the coming months. The Republican leadership is urging their colleagues to invoke their Senatorial privilege of using the floor to speak in favor of President Bush’s legislative agenda and question the policy proposals of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “They have put out the signal, Senator Kerry’s campaign says the battle for the presidency is going to be waged on the...

House Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that former White House anti-terror czar Richard Clarke, the author of a new book critical of President Bush’s handling of the al Qaeda threat before Sept. 11, 2001, may have lied in testimony to his committee, and said he plans to explore whether Congressional action on the matter is warranted. Clarke’s “testimony to our committee is 180 degrees out of line with what he is saying in his book,” Goss said. “He’s either lying in his book or he lied to our committee. It’s one or the other.” Goss added, “If he...

There was quite a bit of chatter in the Capitol on Wednesday about some unexpected fireworks flying at a ceremony honoring civil rights pioneer Dorothy Height after comic Bill Cosby snubbed National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Cosby decided to voice his opposition to the Bush administration’s foreign policy by refusing to sit next to Rice, as organizers had planned, at the event in which Height received the Congressional Gold Medal from President Bush and Hill leaders. “It’s too bad that Mr. Cosby couldn’t cross the partisan divide, especially at an event for a great civil rights leader,” griped one senior...

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday dismissed a suit brought by atheist activist Michael Newdow against the House and Senate chaplains, stating Newdow’s claim that he was injured by his observations of the Senate chaplain’s prayer was “insufficient.” The decision coincided with Newdow’s appearance before the Supreme Court in an unrelated high-profile case Wednesday. Newdow argued that his 9-year-old daughter’s recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, including the uttering “under God,” violates the constitutional separation of church and state. He is an ordained minister affiliated with the Universal Life Church and founder of the First Amendmist Church of...

Question: On the Concurrent Resolution (S. Con. Res. 95 ) Vote Number: 58 Vote Date: March 12, 2004, 01:08 AM Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Concurrent Resolution Agreed to Vote Counts: YEAs 51 NAYs 45 Not Voting 4 Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---51 Alexander (R-TN) Allard (R-CO) Allen (R-VA) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burns (R-MT) Campbell (R-CO) Chafee (R-RI) Chambliss (R-GA) Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Cornyn (R-TX) Craig (R-ID) Crapo (R-ID) DeWine (R-OH) Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Fitzgerald (R-IL) Frist (R-TN) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hagel...

March 6, 2004 | The contrast between the military careers of George W. Bush and John Kerry is drawing veterans to the Democratic Party -- and maddening conservative Republicans who have grown accustomed to monopolizing the symbolism of flag and country. To tarnish Kerry, the right has reached back more than 30 years to develop a narrative that transforms him from hero to traitor, by distorting his antiwar activism after he returned from Vietnam. They hope to convince America that by testifying and organizing for peace, the young Navy lieutenant somehow "dishonored" his fellow sailors and soldiers. This effort began...

Reliable scuttlebutt is that Senator Campbell will announce his retirement this afternoon. Will update as soon as more info is available.

Closed WMD Session Delayed By Mark Preston Roll Call Staff March 2, 2004 A secret Senate floor debate to discuss alleged pre-Iraq war intelligence lapses is not likely to occur until next month in order to allow the Intelligence Committee to finalize a report detailing its own 10-month investigation into the matter. The Intelligence panel has recently held several private sessions for committee members to view a draft of the report, which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. Once the report is finished, the executive session of the full Senate would be scheduled, a spokesman for Majority...

The Gun Manufacturers Liability Bill just failed by a vote of 8-90. Now there are no worries about the AWB (for now!).

Thursday, Feb. 26; 11:47am Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) is refusing to apologize for explosive comments she uttered Wednesday at a closed-door meeting in which she charged that President Bush is employing a racist policy toward Haiti. In a telephone interview with HOH on Wednesday night, Brown confirmed that she told Bush official Roger Noriega that the Haitian people are in desperate straits “because of all you white men” who have under-funded relief programs. Sources in the room for the Florida delegation meeting told HOH that Noriega, who is Mexican-American, took great offense at the comment. Some people in the room...