Free Republic

Things are getting strange as state GOP leaders head toward a Saturday decision on who is going to be the new chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. Last night U.S. Senator Mark Kirk was on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight with Carol Marin. One of the topics covered was the resignation of Party Chairman Pat Brady. The discussion went like this: (see video below at 4:26 minutes)

On Thursday, dozens of American corporations, including Apple, Alcoa, Facebook, eBay, Intel, and Morgan Stanley will submit an amicus brief in the landmark Hollingsworth v. Perry case broadly arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that laws banning same-sex marriages, like California's ballot initiative Proposition 8, are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. According to a draft copy obtained by Fortune, the companies argue that such laws "send an unmistakeable signal that same-sex couples are in some way inferior to opposite-sex couples, a proposition that is anathema to amici's commitment to equality and fair treatment to all." At...

Like the pope, the president doesn't admit error. This was an early governing principle in the Bush White House. Policies could "evolve." Talking points could be replaced by new ones that contradicted the earlier ones. The president could even resist a centralized approach to homeland security and then announce the creation of the second-largest department in the history of the federal government devoted to that purpose. But a president could never admit a blunder, because it irrevocably diminished his authority. This led to a famously awkward press conference in April 2004 where President Bush was unable to come up with...

David Martinon, the Elysee spokesman, will hold a press briefing every week. This is the White House "syndrome." Nicolas Sarkozy's team is revamping presidential communications. Yesterday, shaking up practices at the risk of encroaching upon government spokesman Laurent Wauquiez's role, the Elysee gave its first press briefing by reporting on the President of the Republic's activities. The Elysee spokesman, David Martinon, a young 36-year-old ENA [National School of Administration] graduate and diplomat, took charge of this major first. The Elysee was careful with the setting. It renovated a television studio located in one of the palace's annexes on rue de...

Save Jericho

The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Apr 3, 2007 12:46:52 EDT SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. — A high school senior who faced down military recruiters on his front lawn and refused to go to basic training after earlier signing up for the Minnesota Army National Guard has now been discharged. “You are discharged from the Army National Guard and as a reserve of the Army,'' said a memo from Minnesota's Office of Adjutant General sent to the lawyer representing Leo Valle, an 18-year-old student at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights. It was welcome news for Valle, who claims...