Free Republic

JEFFERSON CITY — Chris Koster, a Republican state senator and champion of stem cell research, is expected to announce today that he is switching to the Democratic Party. Koster, a candidate for attorney general next year, will hold news conferences in Columbia, Harrisonville and St. Louis. In a news release, he promised "a speech that may transform the political landscape of Missouri." Koster, of Harrisonville near Kansas City, resigned late Tuesday as chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus. His resignation letter, hand-delivered by Koster's secretary to the office of Senate President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons, gave no explanation. < snip...

The 51-year-old Brazilian man came with plans to stay here for up to six years to save enough money to buy a house in Brazil, two cars for his daughters and secure a life back home. But after three years of calling Framingham home, the man has decided to go back to Brazil with only part of his dreams fulfilled mainly because, he said, living as an illegal immigrant doesn't pay off anymore. "It's not worth it," said the man, who doesn't want to be identified for fear of deportation. "It was good when I first got here, when the...

The 51-year-old Brazilian man came with plans to stay here for up to six years to save enough money to buy a house in Brazil, two cars for his daughters and secure a life back home. But after three years of calling Framingham home, the man has decided to go back to Brazil with only part of his dreams fulfilled mainly because, he said, living as an illegal immigrant doesn't pay off anymore. "It's not worth it," said the man, who doesn't want to be identified for fear of deportation. "It was good when I first got here, when the...

NEW YORK - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday switched his party status from Republican to unaffiliated, a stunning move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race. The billionaire former CEO, who was a lifelong Democrat before he switched to the GOP for his first mayoral run, said the change in voter registration does not mean he is running for president. "Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our...

About me: Lurker - since 1998 Member - since 1999 In self-imposed exile - since April 2007 The tone of the debate and the attacks on long-time fellow Freepers for the cardinal sin of daring to support Rudy Giuliani in early 2007 around here have really saddened me. Instead of fighting the enemy FR is now imposing an 'ideological purity' test on FR members. The well-oiled train has gone off the rails and Mr. Robinson risks becoming the next Joe Farah - a fellow who started a great website for conservative news and opinions, but who gradually drifted off to...

SEN. BIDEN SHOCK INTERVIEW: OBAMA FIRST 'CLEAN' BLACK IN MAINSTREAM... 'I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy'...

Illegal Immigrant Sues Radio Station For Following Law An illegal immigrant is suing a radio station because it abided by U.S. federal law in requiring her to provide a valid Social Security or tax identification number before giving her a prize she won in a contest. When the Mexican woman, living illegally in Chicago for 15 years, could not provide the proper documents, the station refused to giver her the prize. The woman had won a sports car previously owned by a popular Mexican singer and federal law requires the station to report the Social Security number of everyone who...

AFTER 12 years and three terms, Gov. Pataki leaves state government far worse then he found it: Albany is scarred by notorious dysfunction, afflicted with pervasive corruption and marked by a torpidity unprecedented in modern times. The state as a whole is also worse off - with a shrinking population, a collapsing industrial base, confiscatory property taxes and a tragic hemorrhaging of an upstate population once famous for its productivity. The sole bright spot - the explosive growth of the New York City economy and some of its suburbs - came despite Pataki's policies, and thanks to the inexorable Wall...

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - CBS News veteran Bob Schieffer wraps his 15-month run in the "CBS Evening News" anchor chair on Thursday, paving the way for Katie Couric's debut Tuesday. Schieffer recently spoke about Couric's prospects, his delayed retirement, a big regret, and his budding career as a songwriter. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW DO YOU THINK KATIE'S GOING TO DO WHEN SHE TAKES OVER THE ANCHOR CHAIR NEXT WEEK? Bob Schieffer: Katie's got all the tools. I think she's going to do a terrific job. She clearly has an enormous following. She's going to bring some people into the...

Nebraska Democrats now have a Statehouse officeholder. State Auditor Kate Witek, a lifelong Republican who was GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Osborne’s lieutenant governor running mate just three months ago, switched parties this week. The Democratic Party seemed more open to issues that concern her, Witek said, including “getting spending under control” and requiring more accountability in state government. Asked if she can be comfortable as a pro-life advocate in a party whose national platform is pro-choice, Witek pointed to Nelson, who is seeking re-election to the Senate this November. Nelson also is pro-life, she said, and doesn’t agree with his...

Delaware, Ohio--A central Ohio Episcopal priest has resigned his ordination to protest what he calls “pervasive homophobia” coming mostly from the church leadership in the third world. Former Rev. Paul Nicely issued a written statement July 25 saying, “I no longer in conscience can honor my vow as a priest to be subject to the authority of a church which persists in sanctioning bigotry and exclusion.” “There’s not much an individual can do,” Nicely said in a later interview. “There’s not much political influence for an individual, but I wanted to be expressive in my views on this.” Nicely, 80,...

Facing what recent polls show as a near-certain defeat at the hands of an anti-war challenger in his Connecticut's Democratic primary Tuesday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman joined his supporter New York Senator Hillary Clinton in calling on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign. A Quinnipiac University poll last Thursday showed Lieberman lagging by a hefty 13 points, and most political analysts blame Lieberman's loss of support on his pro-Iraq war position. It wasn't the first time Lieberman has called for Rumsfeld's resignation. The New York Post recalled that in a 2003 interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation," the senator called...

Oklahoma City (AP) - The state Senate gained a Democrat and lost a Republican today. Senator Nancy Riley says she's switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party because the G-O-P is being taken over by the extreme right wing. Riley says she was completely ignored by the Republican caucus during this year's legislative session. She believes her treatment is because of her moderate views and because she's a woman. The move increases the Democrat's majority in the Senate to 26-to-22 and Riley is in the middle of her four-year term so she doesn't face re-election this year. Democratic Senator...

Mon July 24, 2006 Mr. Monday: To stay in Seattle, Sonics must win Mr. Monday once parked his caboose in the Pacific Northwest. Just south of Canada, the state of Washington is now sitting on the front porch of Oklahoma's collective sports brain. Those coffee-drinking, dot-commers have the Sonics. For now. Mr. Monday figures the team in the green and gold is on its way east in the next year. Mr. Monday knows these people. Here's their M.O. -- The Left Coasters are the bandwagoniest bandwagoners who ever bandwagoned. They'll only pull their attention away from their plate of smoked...

Dan Rather is a free man. After an appropriately acrimonious final round of legal wrangling, his 44 years with CBS News came to an end yesterday -- or will come to an end today. Or will end Friday. There's a bit of confusion on that point. Those who have followed the awkward exit of Rather from his position first as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" last year, then as a CBS News employee this year, often ask a simple question: How could a network for which Rather has done so much and served so loyally treat him so shabbily...

TOPEKA, Kan. - The former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party jumped ship in a big way Tuesday, switching his affiliation to Democrat amid speculation that he would become Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' running mate. Johnson County Elections Commissioner Brian Newby confirmed that Mark Parkinson, the state GOP chairman from 1999 to 2003, came to the office and switched his party affiliation shortly before noon. Parkinson's name has been widely circulated as Sebelius' choice for a running mate as the Democratic governor seeks a second term. Current Lt. Gov. John Moore — another former Republican — is retiring when his term...

Johnny Carson had Bette Midler singing to him during his farewell week on NBC's Tonight show in 1992, but tomorrow, Katie Couric will have Tony Bennett and the entire cast of a Broadway show. "We're going to throw her a nice party on May 31st, and the viewers are invited - they should all participate," Jim Bell, executive producer of Today, said in a telephone interview last week. As she leaves to anchor the CBS Evening News, her 15 years of co-hosting Today will be remembered mostly in videos. "From her colonoscopy to some contentious political interviews and some silly...

All my life, I believed in Republican values -- individual responsibility and limited government. Then it happened; I found myself with a small child, unemployed and disabled. I turned to my church, and after years of regular tithes, suddenly I just wasn't their problem. My Republican friends? I was now a pariah to them. My only relief was to turn to government assistance for housing, food, and other needs and I was able to survive with dignity. So chalk me up as one who no longer drinks the GOP koolaid.

Where your legal status and your legal tender meet. On Monday May 1st, while Latino activists are encouraging other Latinos to walk out on their jobs and boycott spending in any Southland businesses, we want you to do the exact opposite. SPEND, SPEND, AND SPEND! To reward you and your financial patriotism, KFI AM 640 and the John and Ken show will be reimbursing you for your legal citizen-spending spree. On Monday May 1st, fax or email a copy of a receipt for something you purchased on May 1st 2006 and it will go into a drawing. Twice an hour...

There's no helping you. This site is now just a diversion -- like a train wreck. This site is inherently for and about raving egomaniacs, and Jim's site policies -- which amount to excluding reality and actual dialogue in favor of political/militaristic pornography -- is conducive to cognitive dissonance, which at the times your worldview is threatened leads you into psychotic breaks (on the political cognitive plane, that is, and just maybe in other realms too). Not to mention that your baseline politics is based in mythology about American demographics, science, economics, ethics etc. You spoonfeed each other in the...