Free Republic

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an Idaho judge Thursday for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., vowed to block full Senate action. The 10-8 party line vote came after Feinstein stormed out of the committee room to try to deny a quorum to approve the nomination of 6th District Judge Randy Smith. Feinstein wants the judgeship to go to a California judge. "This is the only way ... to give me leverage with the White House. We cannot lose another judge for California. Holding this judge in committee would...

The Barack Obama for president bandwagon has hit Illinois, but voters are split on when the freshman U.S. senator should get in the driver's seat. A quarter of voters want the South Side Democrat to seek the White House in 2008, and another 38 percent think he should wait until a later presidential year, according to a Chicago Sun-Times/NBC5 Poll. That means a combined three out of five voters see him as presidential timber.

Senator Charles Schumer is warning that the aging U.N. headquarters is a "death trap" waiting to happen. Schumer says the building has fallen into disrepair after 50 years. He's urging U.N. officials – including Secretary General Kofi Annan – to jump-start renovations. The senator says the building lacks a sprinkler system and has aging steam pipes that could explode. Schumer says despite the deteriorating conditions, nothing has been done. "While the blue-green windows of the Secretariat building glisten on the outside, on the inside of the building, things are crumbling. These problems are not new. The U.N. has known about...