Free Republic

Alec "the Bloviator" Baldwin has a new bosom buddy: Beltway Republican strategist Grover Norquist. The Bush-bashing actor-turned-activist and the Muslim vote-courting political organizer joined together at a Washington, D.C.-area conference last weekend to perpetuate bald lies about the Patriot Act and to oppose the "repressive" War on Terror (repressing terrorist suspects apparently being a bad thing). Baldwin and Norquist's panel, titled "Strange Bedfellows," was sponsored by the ultraliberal group People For the American Way. When PFAW head and panel participant Ralph Neas ranted about the lack of judicial and congressional oversight of the Justice Department's terror investigations, the audience...

People for American Way Leads ‘Stop Alito’ A familiar liberal group has launched another campaign to "save the courts,” this time, from Supreme Court Nominee Sam Alito. People for the American Way began a targeted, national TV campaign Sunday during NBC’s "Meet The Press” with a commercial "to help tell all Americans that Samuel Alito is part of the radical right's dream team.” Sounds good so far. According to a fundraising e-mail received by NewsMax, the group views the Alito nomination as a critical step in regaining a mainstream – read: liberal – agenda for America. "We cannot let the...

“The fact that far left groups like NARAL and People for the American Way (PFAW) would smear Judge Roberts with outlandish inaccuracies to advance their political agenda, is hardly newsworthy. Ralph Neas and Company have been railing against the President's nominee before one was even nominated. The only group that should be truly concerned with PFAW’s report is the Sierra Club, given how much paper was wasted to print this dishonest and disingenuous report.” Tracey Schmitt, Press Secretary PFAW Attacked Roberts Selection Five Minutes Before President George W. Bush’s Official Announcement:People For The American Way Issued A Press Release Denouncing...

Rehnquist Redux Why Ralph Neas and Ann Coulter are both wrong about John Roberts (SNIP) and on the Far Right Instead, let's turn, as my cousin-in-law probably did not, to "far-right wacko" Ann Coulter. The day after the nomination the columnist offered criticism of Judge Roberts from the right, calling the next justice, a "Souter in Roberts' clothing." Some conservatives might want to dismiss Ms. Coulter. Not me. She is always provocative (that is a good thing), and a powerful writer. In questioning whether Judge Roberts will be the kind of justice whose rulings will reflect the values of social...

Just after the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, was not very successful in garnering support in the Senate for American membership in the League of Nations. Opposition was led by Republican Sen. William Borah of Idaho. Years later Borah was asked why he thought the League was such a bad idea. "I didn't," he answered. "I was against it because it was Wilson's idea." So far the opposition on the left to President Bush's nominee as the next associate justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts Jr., has mustered no more intellectual firepower than that.

Left Declares "State of Emergency" For Immediate Release / Contact: Jessica Boulanger 202-777-1569 The United States of America: Saturday, 84 degrees, overcast. Homeland Security threat advisory: Yellow. Families preparing for 4th of July celebrations: flying flags, cooking hotdogs, baking pies. And yet, Liberal special interest groups declare: "STATE OF EMERGENCY!" As Progress for America predicted in Tar & Feather, Inc.: A Liberal 10-Step Plan for Judicial Character Assassination, this Independence Day weekend, the Left is whipping their members into a frenzy in preparation for the first Supreme Court vacancy in 11 years. For the Left, there will be no picnics...

The number one New York Times bestselling author of Bias---Bernard Goldberg---delivers another bombshell -- this time aimed at ...100 People Who Are Screwing Up America No preaching. No pontificating. Just some uncommon sense about the things that have made this country great -- and the culprits who are screwing it up. Bernard Goldberg takes dead aim at the America Bashers (the cultural elites who look down their snobby noses at "ordinary" Americans) ... the Hollywood Blowhards (incredibly ditzy celebrities who think they're smart just because they're famous) ... the TV Schlockmeisters (including the one whose show has been compared to...

Paris Hilton's parents; the Rev. Al Sharpton; the guy who gave us "Fear Factor;" and Rep. Jim McDermott. At first glance, they don't have a lot in common. But they are linked for eternity in a new book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken Is # 37)." McDermott, as it happens, is No. 38. The Democratic congressman from Seattle apparently doesn't pose as big a threat to democracy as comedian-and-leftist radio talkster Franken. But McDermott presents more of a problem than, say, feminist Gloria Steinem, at No. 42, or Enron's disgraced chief executive, Kenneth Lay, who...

IN RECENT DAYS I interviewed Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, and Ralph Neas, executive director of People for the American Way. Together these two are the architects of the policy of unyielding obstruction by Democrats of George Bush's judicial nominees. It is difficult to overstate their influence on the Democratic caucus: They are widely considered to be the hands steering Democratic policy on judges. Both blew the usual rhetorical smoke about how well President Bush is doing with his judicial nominations--Bush has by far the lowest approval rate to the appeals court for modern times for a...

Senate Republicans are preparing to implement a sophisticated, multipronged plan to confirm President Bush’s expected nomination to replace ailing Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Well-funded liberal groups are also ramping up their efforts to block any conservative nominee. Activists working with White House and Senate staffers say the 80-year old Rehnquist’s battle with thyroid cancer has sharply focused attention. The controversy over comments that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), incoming Judiciary Committee chairman, made downplaying the chances of anti-abortion-rights nominees being confirmed also accelerated planning. “The groups on the center-right are prepared to mobilize at a moment’s notice,” said Jay...

Ralph Neas is at it again. Armed with an overflowing treasure chest of donations from the Hollywood Left, union bosses, and trial lawyers, People for the American Way president Ralph Neas is orchestrating the activities of more than 10,000 Democratic attorneys in battleground states. Using the coalition of leftist organizations brought together through years of trench warfare over judicial nominations and a database of attorneys, Neas is working to successfully accuse Republicans of suppressing voters. The lawsuits in Florida have already begun. With 2,000 lawyers dispatched to that state alone, this was certainly bound to happen. Nine lawsuits have been...

New Forms of School Choice: The Real McKaysSchool Choice Forces Emboldened by Recent String of Judicial and Legislative Victories By Robert Holland Printer Friendly   Email a Friend The fastest-growing voucher program in the land is the McKay Scholarship, which three years ago emerged in the choice-friendly climate of Florida. As of July 2003, more than 9,200 Florida special-education students were using McKays to attend private schools equipped to accommodate them. (Special education is education lingo for  individualized instruction developed  to meet the needs of each student judged to have a disability.) McKays predate the June 2002 Zelman decision. But the...

<p>Ralph Neas of the People for the American Way made it official. He said it. I bet he didn't even know he said it. Debating C. Boyden Gray of the Committee for Justice on the Fox News Channel's Hannityand Colmes July 29, he was decrying the implication in a Committee for Justice ad that certain senators on the Judiciary Committee were anti-Catholic. The now famous ad defending federal court nominee Bill Pryor depicted a court house door bearing the sign, "Catholics need not apply."</p>