Free Republic

Democrats appear to have the upper hand on the politics of the fiscal cliff, which might explain their brash pronouncements and mind-blowing conceptualization of "compromise." ... The GOP's dilemma is a doozy. Their opponents, emboldened by the election, are pushing for counter-productive tax hikes on "the rich" -- a politically popular proposition at the moment -- while offering almost nothing meaningful in return. Meanwhile, Democrats' allies in the media have been crafting a 'Republicans-as-stubborn-obstructionists' narrative for years. To a large extent, they've been successful; Republicans are poised to bear the brunt of an irate public's blame if a fiscal cliff...

<p>BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. military jury cleared a Navy SEAL Thursday of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four American security contractors.</p>

Pay hikes granted to more than 120 Assembly employees were rescinded Wednesday amid an uproar that threatened to affect balloting in next month's election. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said she did not want the raises to be used as "some sort of club against the responsible, urgently needed ballot initiatives Californians will be voting on." "In hindsight, this was really becoming a distraction," Bass said. Voters will cast ballots May 19 on a handful of measures to help ease the state's fiscal mess, including Proposition 1A, which would extend new tax increases in return for a limit on state spending.......

Barry Rubin, the biographer of Yasser Arafat and a skeptical observer of U.N. behavior in the Middle East, gave a detailed examination of the ceasefire terms in his column. Let me list some of the terms he sees as either favorable to Israel or at least better than expected: 1. The recent war and resulting deaths are blamed on Hezbollah for attacking Israel. 2. The Israeli army is to leave southern Lebanon not immediately, as the Arab League proposed, but only when the Lebanese army arrives to takes it place. 3. The Lebanese army is to be the sole military...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Shiite politicians agreed Friday to nominate Jawad al-Maliki as prime minister, replacing the incumbent in a bid to clear the way for a long-delayed new government, two Shiite officials said. Al-Maliki is a top ally of outgoing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, whose nomination had sparked sharp opposition from Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders and caused a deadlock lasting months. Leaders of the seven parties that make up the Shiite alliance agreed on al-Maliki's nomination in a meeting Friday evening, said Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest...

Give Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer his due. With the publication of his new book Active Liberty, he enthusiastically embraces a mea culpa approach to allegations that Supreme Court justices invent, recreate, and expand constitutional principles as they please. Viewed as a response to Justice Antonin Scalia's A Matter of Interpretation, Breyer’s book, openly advocates for the notion that U.S. constitutional law is whatever a majority of Supreme Court justices wishes based upon their own notions of what "democracy" and fairness should produce. In other words, I and thousands of other attorneys wasted our time taking constitutional law since that...

BAGHDAD — You probably haven't heard much about it, but around a month ago, a U.S. military base near Ramadi in the Sunni Triangle came under a mortar attack. The Americans responded with artillery, accidentally lobbing several rounds into the town itself, damaging homes, destroying livestock, but killing no civilians. Seeking to make amends, an officer went to the affected area, where he encountered a group of Iraqis armed — not with AK-47s or RPGs — but a lawyer preparing property-damage claims. After some negotiations, the officer agreed to compensate town residents with $70,000. "We're glad this happened," the Ramadians...

Johnny Cunningham passed away on the evening of December 15th 2003. He died at home from a heart attack. He was embraced in Trisha's arms. To send condolences and commemorate his life, click here and send a note to be posted on this page.

American courts need to pay more attention to international legal decisions to help create a more favorable impression abroad, said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at an awards dinner in Atlanta. Sandra Day O'Connor "The impressions we create in this world are important, and they can leave their mark," O'Connor said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 73-year-old justice and some of her high court colleagues have made similar appeals to foreign law, not only in speeches and interviews, but in some of their legal opinions. Her most recent public remarks came at a dinner Tuesday sponsored by...

Detainees or POWs? Ancient distinctions. By Mackubin Thomas Owens is professor of strategy and force planning at the Naval War College in Newport. His views do no necessarily reflect those of any agency of the U.S. government. January 24, 2002 8:55 a.m. as President Bush's decision launch a "war against terrorism" in response to September 11 now hoisted the United States on its own petard? That would seem to be the case as international organizations and even officials of allied countries such as Great Britain have intensified criticism of the United States concerning its treatment of captured al Qaeda and ...