Free Republic

A key witness who testified against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich at his summer corruption trial was charged Friday with shoplifting at a Northwest Side store. Rajinder Bedi, 58, is accused of stealing $166 in merchandise from the Home Depot in the 6200 block of North Lincoln. Bedi, who is charged with felony retail theft, did not return a phone message. Bedi had been the $118,000-a-year managing director of the state's Office of Trade and Investment in Blagojevich's administration. Bedi testified under immunity in July at Blagojevich's trial on the ex-governor's alleged efforts to sell President Obama's former Senate seat. Prosecutors...

What is happening to Terri Schiavo is "immoral and it's unnecessary," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said on Tuesday, aligning himself with religious conservatives and pro-life activists who have gathered outside the brain-damaged woman's hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla. "She is being starved to death. She is being dehydrated to death. And this is inhumane," Jackson said at a press conference after visiting Terri and praying with her family.

...YET HIS FAN base has shrank, and he’s been ridiculed and reviled by the general public for his bizarre appearance and behavior. His new single, “One More Chance,” didn’t even register on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Now his imminent arrest on another molestation allegation could be the final nail in the coffin of his career. “I think Michael Jackson’s career is not over — it’s still ongoing —but it’s already been severely diminished,” said Andy Pemberton, editor in chief of Blender magazine. “He appears from the outside a very disturbed individual.” “He has a huge fan base, especially in New...

NEW YORK (AP) - In the 10 years since Michael Jackson first stood accused of child molestation, the superstar has managed to eke out two platinum albums, a handful of hits and some highly rated television specials. Yet his fan base has shrunk, and he's been ridiculed and reviled by the general public for his bizarre appearance and behavior. His new single, "One More Chance," didn't even register on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Now his imminent arrest on another molestation allegation could be the final nail in the coffin of his career. "I think Michael Jackson's career is not...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - Michael Jackson was being sought Wednesday on an arrest warrant alleging multiple counts of child molestation and authorities were negotiating with the pop star's legal representatives to arrange a surrender. Jackson, who survived a child-molestation investigation without being charged 10 years ago, was believed to be in Las Vegas. A spokesman called the allegations false and said that Jackson, through attorney Mark Geragos, had made arrangements to return to Santa Barbara. The pop star was asked to surrender his passport and was being given an opportunity to surrender "within a specified period of time,"...

Pop superstar Michael Jackson could be in custody by the end of the day. CBS News Correspondent Steve Futterman reports the Santa Barbara, Calif., district attorney confirms he is ready to arrest Jackson on child molestation charges. The sheriff's office said it has an arrest warrant and was negotiating with Jackson's attorney for his surrender. Jackson is currently in Las Vegas. The warrant charges Jackson with "lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 14." "We were told that his attorneys and the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office were in the process of working something out where he would be...

Rev. Jesse Jackson, who repeatedly urged forgiveness after President Clinton committed felony perjury five years ago, said late Monday that top conservative talk host Rush Limbaugh should be prosecuted for illegally obtaining prescription painkillers. "Here in the case of Rush Limbaugh, he has bought excessive amounts of an illegal substance," Jackson claimed on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country." "Will he be able to stand for rehab without prosecution?" The fading civil rights leader said that perhaps Limbaugh's plight would force America to liberalize its drug laws. Otherwise, he added, "If the law remains the same he'll face prosecution as other Americans do."...

The garbler from Chicago is warbling on Veterans Day. Jesse Jackson, in an op-ed piece in the Chicago Sun Times today, accuses President Bush of trying to hide the dead from the war in Iraq, accuses the Bush administration of not caring about America's casualties, and says that the White House is "willing to turn soldiers into props to be highlighted or discarded at will." Jackson said that senior administration officials do not attend the funerals of those killed in Iraq so they can hide the risks in order to sell the war. He mentions that Jessica Lynch disputes the...

IRAQIS MUST APPLAUD JESSE JACKSON J. Grant Swank, Jr. POB l984, Windham ME 04062 Pastor, New Hope Church, Windham ME Jesse Jackson is getting older and more and more irrelevant. His days were "once," but not now. In his gut, he knows it. (But there are those within his following who champion Jackson The Man when it comes to social, religious and particularly political insight.) Sad, but such happens from time to time to those who enjoy applause for a season but then at some point are prodded by circumstance and reason gracefully to lay down the applause meter to...