Free Republic

It was the moment of greatest peril for then-Sen. Barack Obama’s political career. In the heat of the presidential campaign, videos surfaced of Obama’s pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, angrily denouncing whites, the U.S. government and America itself. Obama had once bragged of his closeness to Wright. Now the black nationalist preacher’s rhetoric was threatening to torpedo Obama’s campaign. The crisis reached a howling pitch in mid-April, 2008, at an ABC News debate moderated by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos. Gibson asked Obama why it had taken him so long – nearly a year since Wright’s remarks became public –...

Keep your eye on Jonathan Stein. Only a second-year law student at Hofstra, he’s already using his legal skills to bug the Liberal establishment. He seems most creative to me. Jonathan Stein considers himself an activist, a single citizen who wants to see if he alone can make a difference in the political process. Here is some of his projects. He filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee for violating a law that prohibits paying a senator for time he does not attend. In this case, Senator John Kerry who got 100% of his pay for attending only 13%...

After Jim McGreevey’s announcement of his homosexuality and his resignation as governor of New Jersey, I had the opportunity to speak with Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan about McGreevey, New Jersey Democrats, and Lonegan’s own plans to become Governor of New Jersey. Lonegan believes that McGreevey’s sexual orientation is irrelevant and “not an issue.” What Lonegan takes exception to, however, is McGreevey’s performance as Governor - particularly his record on tax hikes and “big spending.” Although Lonegan was not adverse to the rising calls for McGreevey to leave office immediately, which would result in a special gubernatorial election later this year,...

Attempting to turn a seeminglyleaden John Kerry into political gold, the Democrats' alchemists have endeavored to fuse two seemingly divergent elements of 20th century national politics into one coherent strategy — the vague Richard Nixon of 1968 and the embattled Harry Truman of 1948. Echoes of both campaigns can be clearly discerned in the contemporary Kerry strategy. Though the scripts may be remarkably similar, the 2004 campaign has substantially less in common with the precedent campaigns of 1968 or 1948. Most startling to anyone familiar with the history is the near-perfect fungibility of the Kerry strategy and the Nixon strategy....

In response to being fired by Slim-Fast for her lewd and outrageous anti-Bush diatribe at John Kerry’s exclusive, closed-door fundraiser on July 8th, the now-infamous Radio City “Hate Fest,” Whoopi Goldberg stated that “America's heart and soul is freedom of expression without fear of reprisal.” A close reading of Ms. Goldberg’s remarks divulges Hollywood’s fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment and the freedom of expression. The First Amendment is not the exclusive property and privilege of the Hollywood elite; but, perhaps more pointedly, the First Amendment absolutely does not shield people who exercise their First Amendment rights from the consequences...

A Hofstra law student has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against the New York Times alleging the publication's use of the slogan, "All the news that's fit to print" is false advertising and constitutes a deceptive practice. He claims that the Times' use of "push-polling" is a violation of the FTC Act. Jonathan Stein said he filed the complaint because he believes the NYT has abused its power and abdicated its responsibility to be objective. He told Talon News, "The New York Times has enormous power to shape public opinion and the FTC must review the paper's...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) met with Secretary of the Senate Emily Reynolds Wednesday to discuss ethics complaints stemming from his prolonged absence from the legislative body while he campaigns for president. Kerry and Reynolds were spotted by Congressional staffers slipping into one of the many antechambers of the Capitol where the pair likely reviewed options for dealing with the complaints filed against both of them. A complaint filed by Hofstra law student Jonathan Stein accuses Reynolds of willfully violating a federal statute that requires her to make deductions from Kerry's Senate paycheck for...

John Kerry, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States, has been caught stealing from the American taxpayers – and he should be ashamed of himself. Title 2, Section 39, of the United States Code clearly states that “[t]he Secretary of the Senate ... shall deduct from the [salary] of each Member ... the amount of his salary for each day that he has been absent from the Senate ... unless such Member ... assigns as the reason for such absence the sickness of himself or of some member of his family." The plain and unambiguous meaning...

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) met with Secretary of the Senate Emily Reynolds Wednesday to discuss ethics complaints stemming from his prolonged absence from the legislative body while he campaigns for president. Kerry and Reynolds were spotted by Congressional staffers slipping into one of the many antechambers of the Capitol where the pair likely reviewed options for dealing with the complaints filed against both of them. A complaint filed by Hofstra law student Jonathan Stein accuses Reynolds of willfully violating a federal statute that requires her to make deductions from Kerry's Senate paycheck for his absences. Kerry is...

A Hofstra University Law School student wants to see Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry return most of his Senate salary for the past two years to cover the days he has been absent campaigning. Law student Johnathan M. Stein, 28, filed a complaint against Mr. Kerry of Massachusetts for cashing the pay checks and Senate Secretary Emily J. Reynolds for not deducting pay for his absences. "I learned about the issue by accident," Mr. Stein said. "Mrs. Reynolds has knowingly and willfully" violated section 2 paragraph 39 of the U.S. Code by giving Mr. Kerry his salary without deducting...