Free Republic

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...

CAIRO, December 15 (IslamOnline.net) – Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsy Clarke expressed readiness Sunday, December 14, to act as defense lawyer for ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, with western analysts suspecting the captured leader would be given fair trial. "Certainly, why not. I am ready to act in his defense," Clarke told IslamOnline.net shortly after the U.S. confirmed the detention of Saddam near Tikrit. Clarke, currently in Cairo to attend a two-day international anti-occupation conference, stressed that Saddam – however brutal – should be give a "fair, objective and impartial trial". "Saddam must be domestically prosecuted first and - if...

<p>Republican congressional candidates in Wayne and Oakland counties have comfortable leads over Democratic challengers, a new poll shows.</p> <p>U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, a Bloomfield Township Republican, holds a 52 percent-25 percent lead over Democrat David Fink, a West Bloomfield attorney, in the 9th Congressional District, which cuts across Oakland County from Farmington up to Oakland Township.</p>

<p>BOSTON -- Former FBI agent John Connolly, who had been credited with helping to cripple the New England Mafia, was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison for protecting his informants in exchange for information.</p> <p>U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro had twice rejected motions from both the prosecution and the defense to deviate from federal guidelines, which called for a sentence of eight years, one month to 10 years, one month.</p>