Free Republic

n a letter to the editor published Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder accused the Washington Times of running an “ill-informed” and “offensive” editorial in late August that criticized new hiring policies at the Department of Justice. Holder also blasted the Times for making what he called “inaccurate” and “truly shameful” characterizations of people with mental disabilities. “Your Aug. 23 editorial about people with disabilities was ill-informed, offensive and a stark reminder that persistent prejudices and stereotypes remain too prevalent in our society and must not go unchecked,” Holder wrote in a letter to the Times’ editor. The Times had criticized...

One of California's leading conservatives delivered a public slap at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday, two days after the celebrity governor called for the Republican Party to move to the political center or risk a future of irrelevance. Sen. Tom McClintock never mentioned the governor by name, but his speech to GOP activists at a state convention was thick with transparent digs at Schwarzenegger and referenced remarks the governor made last week. On Friday, the governor declared that the GOP was "dying at the box office" and would drift into the political margins unless it tackles issues like global warming...

YALTA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton on Friday cast doubt on the effectiveness of a planned U.S. missile shield, deriding it as a "colossal waste of money." Clinton said the defense system, parts of which are to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, had created unnecessary difficulties with Russia, which denounces the plan as an attempt to undermine its defense capabilities. "My facts may be wrong, but my impression is that we are creating a crisis here when none is necessary," Clinton told a conference in the Ukrainian resort of Yalta on the ex-Soviet state's relationship...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in a nationally televised Spanish-language speech, faulted the White House Tuesday for policies he said pushed more Americans into poverty and failed to address a crisis in education. "America can do better," the mayor said in response to President Bush's State of the Union address. "Under this administration, 4 million people have fallen from the working class into the ranks of the poor," the mayor said. "Six million children are on the verge of failing out of school and 11 million Americans can't read a bus schedule or fill out a job application....

HAVANA - Fidel Castro on Thursday called the top American diplomat to Havana a "gangster," stepping up his communist nation's attack on the new U.S. mission chief and dissidents. Castro referred to new U.S. Interests Section chief Michael Parmly as "that little gangster," and his predecessor James Cason as the "former gangster," in one of several addresses at a regular session of Cuba's National Assembly. "I don't know which one is worse," Castro told lawmakers during a session that dealt primarily with year-end economic reports. Castro's comments were broadcast on state television Thursday evening, after the American mission had closed...