Free Republic

The Answer Is in the Works The real negotiations haven’t taken place yet. Today begins the fifth year of waiting for confirmation for some of President Bush's nominees to the federal courts of appeals. With the Senate reconvening on Capitol Hill, and Majority Leader Bill Frist preparing to use the "nuclear option" — or the "constitutional option" or "Byrd option," as it is also known — to end the standoff over Democratic filibusters, the outlines of a possible compromise solution are beginning to take shape. It's not the quick-and-dirty fix, recently floated in the press, in which both sides would...

Yasser Arafat wants to reach a mutual truce with Israel, his national security adviser said Tuesday, but Israeli officials said the government would reject the offer outright. Brig. Gen. Jibril Rajoub, Arafat's national security adviser, said under a ceasefire, the Palestinians would halt all acts of violence in return for an Israeli agreement to end its military operations, including lifting blockades on Palestinian towns and villages. "We are ready to sit and we are ready to declare a general ceasefire, but there needs to be something mutual because without mutuality nothing will be achieved," Rajoub told Israel Radio. Rajoub did...