Free Republic

The last few months a plethora of federally financed religious charities and NGO's, government agencies and law professors and justices on the Texas Supreme Court have been scrambling to help provide pro-bono legal services to illegal alien minors who have crossed the Texas borders. The sympathetic marketing of these "unaccompanied children" by the press and media has been relentless. While there is no doubt these children need comfort and care questions remain as to the primary motivations that brought them here in sudden huge numbers as a result of Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the complications of having...

February 28th marks the 119th birthday of Ben Hecht, the wisecracking genius who invented the screwball comedy and gangster movie, and who raucously upheld the honor of American Jews in WWII. Blasted into history from a more colorful age, Hecht began his career as a circus acrobat and virtuoso violinist, then seamlessly morphed into Chicago's star crime reporter and the most successful screenwriter in Hollywood history. I love Hecht for the feast of intelligent entertainment he seemed to effortlessly concoct, from Hitchcock masterpieces like Notorious and Spellbound to Scarface, The Front Page, and the uncredited script of Gone With the...

Some afternoon observations on Miers and "Borking." October 12, 2005 12:45 PM PST The verb "to Bork" has an origin in the 1987 treatment of Robert Bork by his opponents on the left. It was a dishonorable episode in American political history. From Wikipedia: According to the New York Times, the verb to bork might be defined as "to destroy a judicial nominee through a concerted attack on his character, background and philosophy." [1] The most famous (or infamous) use of the verb to bork occurred in July 1991 at a conference of the National Organization for Women in New...

HOUSTON -- He was a country boy who grew up on a wheat farm, she a city girl who played on her high school tennis team. The lives of Nathan Hecht and Harriet Miers began to inter-twine in the early 1970s, shortly after they finished law school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Soon, they were rising stars at the same law firm, and their lives seemed to converge in every way. They were earnest, ambitious and increasingly affectionate with one another. Friends thought they would get married. Instead, for 30 years, Hecht and Miers--President Bush's Supreme Court nominee--have nurtured...

  MSNBC.com Friend says Miers lets criticism roll off her back Texas judge confident Supreme Court nominee is conservative and 'pro-life' The Associated Press Updated: 11:11 a.m. ET Oct. 6, 2005 WASHINGTON - Harriet Miers is unfazed by the criticism and questioning of her qualifications as she seeks to become the next Supreme Court justice, a longtime friend said Thursday....Hecht, who has known Miers for 30 years, said he has visited her several times since she was nominated by President Bush on Monday....“I don’t have any doubt that she’ll be conservative,” Hecht said in an interview on NBC's “Today” show. “Whether...

Hecht running against Reed By William John Hagan Houston Home Journal 08/27/2005 A potential Democratic nominee in the upcoming Lieutenant Governor’s race, Greg Hecht, visited Warner Robins as part of his campaign to challenge the likely Republican nominee Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition. Hecht, a former State Senator, Representative, and Assistant District Attorney was in Warner Robins to speak with the members of the Houston County Democratic Committee. Prior to his campaign stop at Ted Wright Park in Warner Robins, Hecht granted an exclusive interview to the Houston Home Journal regarding two issues which he...

Veteran Jewish legislator Michael Howard now looks certain to be crowned leader of the opposition Conservative Party following a bout of internecine strife that led to the political ouster of former leader Iain Duncan Smith on Wednesday night. While nominations for the leadership remain open until next Thursday, heavy-hitters within the party were quick to announce that they would stand aside and support Howard, who is widely seen as "a big beast in the political jungle." Colleagues see Howard as having the "right stuff," in both political and personal terms. They believe he has the authority, intelligence, maturity and gravitas...

WASHINGTON—A Montreal man has emerged as the key figure in a controversy that has dogged Democratic presidential aspirant Wesley Clark during the summer months. Questions have swirled since June when the former NATO commander alleged on national television that he was pressured to link the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in a mystery phone call he received. Clark first implied the call, not long after the attacks, might have come from White House, then later said it came from a Middle Eastern think tank in Canada. He has never identified the caller. As Clark kicked...