Free Republic

American papers are filled with pundits speculating about the horrors the Taliban may inflict on the people of Afghanistan, particularly its women. Less attention has been paid to the horrors Texas Republicans — the Taliban wing of the Republican Party — are inflicting on the State of Texas. In total control of the state, Republicans have a free hand that they’ve used to enforce extremism. Dubbing them the Texas Taliban isn’t just name-calling. The parallels are chilling. The Taliban scorn democracy. They see their opponents as heretics and heathens. The Taliban are bigots, rejecting people of other religions. The Taliban...

Jackson’s group, along with LGBT group GLAAD and the National Organization for Women, urged A&E to keep Robertson on an indefinite hiatus from the show, which the network started following Robertson’s comments criticizing homosexuality in an interview with GQ magazine. snip Jackson Sr. and the leaders of the other groups are demanding a sit-down meeting with Cracker Barrel and A&E in the next couple of days. “It is unacceptable that a personality who has been given such a large platform would benefit from racist and anti-gay comments,” the group leaders state in the release.

It was "night and day" hearing President Obama and President Clinton's health care chat versus Sen. Ted Cruz's, R-Texas, 21-hour "filibuster," the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr., tells Whispers. "Such clowning really helps President Obama, to see the contrast between the wise man and the clown," Jackson said Wednesday. Jackson has been in attendance at the Clinton Global Initiative's annual confab in New York this week and felt POTUS laid out the Affordable Care Act well when talking to Clinton Tuesday.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson preached Sunday afternoon in Miami-Dade County about the importance of teaching young people the importance of voting, the continued battle against racism and the controversial shooting of Trayvon Martin. Inside the 93rd Street Community Baptist Church in West Little River, to about 200 people in the pews, the civil rights leader opened his remarks with, “Long live the spirit of Trayvon Martin.” It was a bit late in the afternoon for a Sunday service, but that didn’t stop the congregants from singing and praising the Lord. Most came dressed in their Sunday best. It wasn’t hot,...

In a surprise move, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., tried to get a House vote Thursday on a resolution condemning Texas Gov. Rick Perry for a racial slur once painted on a rock at his family's leased West Texas hunting ranch. Jackson, who earlier in the week had spoken to the House Democratic Caucus about a resolution critical of Perry, was unsuccessful. But he said on the House floor that the West Texas ranch's name, "N---rhead," was offensive. The African-American lawmaker, son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said, "N---r is offensive." "N---rhead is offensive. And for a governor of one...

'Some Layer of the Excitement is Gone' In an interview with SPIEGEL, civil rights activist and Baptist minister Jesse Jackson discusses Black America's frustration with Barack Obama and the president's failure to anticipate the Republicans' tenacious will to 'destroy' him. SPIEGEL: When was the last time you spoke to President Barack Obama? Jackson: It has been a while. SPIEGEL: But you were one of his early mentors in Chicago and the picture of your public tears in Chicago's Grant Park after his election victory in 2008 went around the globe. How would you describe your current feelings about his presidency?...

Obama rejects Rev. Jackson's tirade against 'Zionists' Ynetnews, Israel - 6 hours ago Jesse Jackson in which he says an Obama administration would crush 'the Zionists clout' in Washington. Israeli generals duped into supporting Obama /

PREPARE for a new America: That's the message that the Rev. Jesse Jackson conveyed to participants in the first World Policy Forum, held at this French lakeside resort last week. He promised "fundamental changes" in US foreign policy - saying America must "heal wounds" it has caused to other nations, revive its alliances and apologize for the "arrogance of the Bush administration." ...

Controversial US religious figure Jesse Jackson on Tuesday told the first World Policy Forum in France that if elected president, Barack Obama will throw off the shackles of what he called “Zionist” control of American policy. In remarks carried by The New York Post, Jackson claimed that powerful “Zionists” and “Zionist” lobbies have for decades forced consecutive US governments to “put Israel’s interests first” when forming policy regarding the Middle East.

Mr. Hymietown says Obama will end "decades of putting Israel's interests first" by Bill Levinson We will say up front that American Jews have only one legitimate reason to support Israel; it is a fellow democracy, with political freedoms and civil rights that are similar to those of the United States. This is, however, the only reason that any good American needs to support Israel (or Poland, or the United Kingdom, and so on) against dictatorships, theocracies, and so on. We have little doubt that the National Jewish Democratic Council and Jewsvote.org ("If you vote for McCain, to me you're...

The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. today demanded City Council hearings and a Dec.10 march on La Salle Street to shine the light on a mortgage foreclosure epidemic he warned could trigger a "sustained depression" as early as next year. Jackson accused "unscrupulous lenders" of targeting minorities for high-cost loans in a "form of redlining and racial profiling." He pointed to a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition that shows African-Americans of all income levels in the Chicago area were more than twice as likely as whites to receive the subprime and ballooning adjustable interest rate mortgages that can be...

The Rev. Al Sharpton, the bombast from New York who is a 2004 White House hopeful, is trying to win the endorsement of the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. I bet he will not get it. But Sharpton, a second-tier long-shot candidate, is trying hard. The centerpiece of Sharpton's platform was adapted from the writings of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). Sharpton supports the lawmaker's drive for constitutional amendments to guarantee equality in public education, health care and voting rights. Sharpton's entry into the 2004 presidential race adds an interesting chapter to the history of Sharpton and Jackson Sr.'s long-running,...

BSNN file photo (crAP) HYMIETOWN, NY -- Jesse Jackson, director of the Rainbow/PUSH coalition, called today for boycotts of Caucasian people, stating that "the lack of diversity in the white race is appalling and divisive." Jackson made the comments at the 33nd annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference in New York, saying, "Every time I look at a crowd of white people, all I see are white faces. No African-Americans! No Hispanics! No Asians!" Leading the crowd in a chant of "The Caucasian race needs a new face," Jackson deflected criticism that white people are, by definition, white. "It is time...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Faced with an uproar over his remark that the nation would have been better off if Strom Thurmond had won the presidency when he ran on a segregationist ticket in 1948, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott apologized Monday night, saying he misspoke. "A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embrace the digarded policies of the past," Lott, R-Miss., said in a statement. "Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement." Lott spokesman Ron Bonjean said the senator issued the statement "out of...

chatterboxBlurted Out Conviction of the Week: Trent LottWhat's a little segregationism among friends?By Timothy NoahPosted Friday, December 6, 2002, at 1:54 PM PT "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had of followed our lead we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."—Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, as reported Dec. 6 in ABC News' political Weblog, The Note. To watch a video of the festivities, click here."I want to tell you, ladies...

Reverand Al Shaprton, Presdient of the National Action Network, has asked for a meeting with Republican National Committee Chair Marc Racicot and has announced that he will begin a national camaign calling for the removal of Senator Trent Lott.

After his remarks at Strom Thurmonds 100th Birthday Party, is seems to me that my Republican party has a simple choice.Either they get rid of Lott as Majority Leader, or they should come out formally as a party that regrets segregation and civil rights for African Americans.Why are the Republican commentators so silent on this?And where are the liberals?Bill Kristol, to his credit, expressed disbelief.. (at Lott's comments)

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has provoked criticism by saying the United States would have been better off if then-segregationist candidate Strom Thurmond had won the presidency in 1948. ... In 1998 and 1999, Lott was criticized after disclosures that he had been a speaker at meetings of the Council of Conservative Citizens, an organization formed to succeed the segregationist white Citizens' Councils of the 1960s. In a 1992 speech in Greenwood, Miss., Lott told CCC members: "The people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy. Let's take it in the...

This is not easy to do. I have liked Trent Lott for most of his career. However I believe his recent comments have gone to far. He needs to resign as majority leader. Here is what he said: Speaking Thursday at a 100th birthday party and retirement celebration for Sen. Thurmond (R-S.C.) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Lott said, "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems...

Tim Russert just said on the panel discussion to Robert Novak, Bill Safire and David Broder that Jesse Jackson had given him a statement calling Lott a 'Confederate' for his remarks supporting Strom Thurmond and requesting his resignation from the Senate as Incoming Majority Leader.No details were given about possible protests by Jacksons Rainbow coalition on the controversy