Free Republic

The eviction of Israeli families from Migron on Sunday brought back painful memories for many of the 9,000 citizens expelled from Gush Katif in 2005. Now Katif expellees are asking the government for just one thing: leave the synagogue standing. “We, who seven years ago felt on our flesh the Israeli government’s decision to uproot our lives and our towns in Gush Katif, are pained and shocked today at the fact that the Israeli government is repeating the terrible mistake, and crime, of demolishing settlement and uprooting homes in Migron,” wrote Eliezer Orbach of the Gush Katif Residents’ Committee, in...

State Sen. Barack Obama picked up several endorsements on Sunday in his bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, including the backing of former congressman and White House counsel Abner Mikva. "I can't think of any candidate I've had more enthusiasm for," Mikva said. Obama is "bright, thoughtful and articulate" and a natural leader, Mikva said. Mikva said he admired Obama's efforts on campaign finance reform. And Obama shed leadership as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, a community organizer and a state senator, Mikva said. Mikva, a former federal appellate judge, said he first met...

Sixteen appointees and advisers helping president-elect Barack Obama's Justice Department transition efforts all recently sat on the board of an organization little known outside legal circles: The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. The liberal legal network, which blossomed during eight years of Democratic exile, counts as its veterans Obama’s choice for attorney general, Eric Holder: Vice President-elect Joe Biden's chief of staff, Ron Klain; and future White House Staff Secretary Lisa Brown. Seven other recent board members are advising the incoming administration on legal, education, and labor-related issues. Theresa Wynn Roseborough is rumored to be a top candidate...

One of Barack Obama’s longtime mentors and oldest friends said today he believes Bill Clinton will be a complicating factor for the new president and that his list of foreign donors could prove embarrassing. Abner Mikva, a former federal judge who was Mr Clinton’s White House counsel – and an early supporter of Mr Obama’s – told The Times that the president-elect’s choice of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State “worried” him because of her husband. Although not a member of Mr Obama’ White House transition team, Mr Mikva was once one of Mr Obama’s most powerful patrons in Chicago,...