Free Republic

WASHINGTON - In returning $850,000 to donors associated with a disgraced fundraiser, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sets a significant new standard for how campaigns should respond in the face of potential scandal. Clinton's decision also underscores the price — financial and political — that her campaign is paying for failing to spot trouble with the fundraiser, Norman Hsu, even after receiving a warning. The campaign announced it would now conduct background checks on its fundraisers, an extraordinary and potentially time consuming step. By returning the money, Clinton also puts pressure on presidential rivals and other politicians with rainmakers who have...

Hip Hop Confronts War By Walidah Imarisha Alternet Article Dated 8/5/2002 E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Since Sept. 11 corporate media have regurgitated the government's mindless pro-war propaganda. It's not just CNN and NBC, though: big money rappers have fallen in line to rally 'round the flag, from Mystikal to R. Kelly to Wu-Tang Clan to MC Hammer. "Whether you have Dan Rather or Wyclef or Ja Rule wrapped up in red, white and blue, it's the same, because then they become the Dan Rather of the hip hop community," says Mario Africa of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors,...