Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Self-described homebody David Matheny of White Hall wouldn't make his first trip to the nation's capital for just anyone. But this week, Matheny will take his wife Tammy and son Matthew on their first vacation in two years, traveling nearly 1,000 miles to watch President Bush get sworn in Thursday for a second term. "I'd love to meet the guy and I'd love to shake his hand," said Matheny, 47, an insurance claims adjuster, White Hall alderman and president of the White Hall Chamber of Commerce. "It's not often for us that we have a president that we...

<p>We're counting the days now until President Bush's second Inaugural this Thursday. Tickets are still available for the hottest Inaugural Ball in D.C. Come join us for the Free Republic W2 Inaugural Ball featuring Gov. Huckabee and his rock and roll band, Capitol Offense.</p>

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday he has "a big agenda in mind" for his second term that begins this week and that four years is going to be a short time to meet all his goals. "We got to get moving and get some things done before -- before people kind of write me off," Bush told CBS News in an interview. He said he hopes that with his final election behind him, Republicans and Democrats in Congress will work together to pass his legislation. Unity will be the most important theme of his inaugural address on Thursday, he...

He (hearts) rock-and-roll: Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won't just be another Republican party animal during inaugural festivities. He'll be part of the entertainment. Huckabee brings his rock band, Capitol Offense, back to Washington this week to play at a ball put on by Free Republic, a conservative news and activism Web site. "We played four years ago," the bass-playing governor told us. "It's one of those wonderful situations where it's rare to be invited the first time and even more rare to be invited back." The band's three-hour set will include boomer-pleasing songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Rolling Stones,...

Brochure has map of events, parade route, subway stations, station closings, listing of events and closest stations to those events, etc.Some important information and helpful tips from the Metro brochure... Metro will open at 5 a.m. and close at 3 a.m. Last train times vary by station. Please check last train times posted at the station you will use after the event. Archives-Navy Mem’l-Penn Quarter and Smithsonian stations will be closed until after the parade (5–6 p.m.).For your convenience, you may buy a One Day Pass for $6.50 from a Passes/Farecards machine in any Metro station. Metro staff also will...

Now Michael Newdow is offended by prayer at the presidential inauguration.... his legal argument is not far-fetched. What ought to grab the attention of those who would prefer to allow religion in the public square is that earlier court decisions provide the grounds for Mr. Newdow to make a plausible legal case.

An anti-war group filed a lawsuit Friday challenging what it called "the unprecedented exclusion of the public" from President Bush's inaugural parade route. The lawsuit in federal district court claims the National Park Service is illegally blocking the general public from access to vast portions of Pennsylvania Ave. reserved solely for guests screened by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "The public has the right to access the parade, but what they are doing is trying to sanitize the parade route," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney representing the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and other activists. Park Service officials say they have fulfilled their obligation...

The ACLU's "constitutional" lawsuit with this Tuesday's Presidential Inauguration is a three-way taxpayer hit: 1. By act of Congress, the ACLU is allowed to bill (likely at the highest rate possible) the government/taxpayers for the costs of bringing the suit, and automatically is paid, regardless of the suits' outcome. 2. By operation, the cost of defending against the suit is charged to the taxpayers, again, likely at the highest rate. 3. By function, the cost of hearing and adjudicating the suit is at taxpayer expense. Of course, it was members of the legal industry, Congress's largest and only functional built-in...

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, specializing in constitutional law, said today it is pleased a federal district court upheld prayer at the Presidential inauguration and rejected a request from Michael Newdow for a preliminary injunction that would have barred prayer from the January 20th event. Newdow is expected to file an emergency appeal with a federal appeals court and the ACLJ is preparing legal briefs to file at the appellate level....

Swearing In Chris Matthews on Dubya's big day President George W. Bush will be inaugurated for a second term on Thursday. But before that big day, MSNBC's Chris Matthews — joined by NBC's Tom Brokaw — will look back at inaugurations past and what the ritual has told us about the men we choose to occupy the Oval Office. The special, Picking Our Presidents: Leaders and Legacies, airs Sunday at 9 pm/ET and again on Wednesday at 9. Matthews will also anchor MSNBC's live inauguration coverage on Jan. 20. Matthews told The Biz why we need to be there. TV...

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner gave a Tampa high school marching band the financial boost it needed to get to the presidential inaugural parade next week, donating $37,000 to help with travel expenses. Steinbrenner, who lives in Tampa, on Thursday offered the Gaither High School band the difference between what students and parents had raised and the estimated $90,000 they needed for the trip to Washington. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," excited band booster vice president Becky Myers said after hearing the news. Students have struggled to raise the money since learning last month they will be the...

Well, I have been informed that Kid Rock may still be playing at the inaugural youth concert. My friend John, who runs the Kid Rock website (www.extremekidrock.moonfruit.com) has a story from the National Ledger that Barbara Bush is still trying to get Mr. Ritchie to play at the event in Washington. (This info comes from Tara Copp of the Scripts Howard News Service. Also, I got word from another person that Stef Eulinberg (Kid Rock's drummer) told him that they had been practicing for the show. So, which is it--is he playing or not? Will the radicals who know nothing...

1/14/05 We are updating this article, the original of which appeared on Jan. 2, 2005. The list contains new donors, bringing the total listed here to over $50 million not including in kind contributions. A few days ago we pointed out the stupidity of those critics who said we were stingy and that we were spending more on the Bush Inaugural than we were on disaster relief. As we said in the piece, the Inaugural is being privately funded, so it is not as if the US were picking the party over foreign aid. Further Inaugural donations were made prior...

The idiot Mike Newdow that tried to get Bush not to use a bible to get sworn in, or use a prayer during is inauguration has been thrown out, as Fox news reports. Basically, the justices said that Bush would not be able to control his own inauguration and its not up to censor his speech. They also said (which i love) - if you don’t want to hear it - don’t watch it.

Fox News: FBI says suspicious activity along Inaugural route. People walking around taking notes on buildings along route. Not sure if it's terrorist activity or not.

When Barbara and Jenna Bush agreed to host a youth concert as part of their famous dad's inaugural festivities, they imagined themselves getting up close and personal with hot musical stars like Lil Jon and JoJo. But one by one, the twins' top choices have been replaced by country crooners and has-beens—even a Christian singing sheriff.

Atheist Challenges Inaugural Prayers By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 14, 2005; Page B01 A California atheist asked a federal judge yesterday to stop President Bush from having two Protestant ministers say prayers at the inauguration, arguing that it would violate his constitutional rights to the separation of church and state. Michael Newdow, a lawyer and doctor who has fought to keep his daughter from being exposed to the Pledge of Allegiance in her public school, said the inauguration is perhaps the most public of all government-sponsored national ceremonies. It should not provide the president with...

All Freepers and lurkers in good standing are invited to celebrate with us at the Free Republic Pre-Inaugural Dinner at the Washington Plaza Hotel, Wednesday, January 19, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.With all the traffic closures expected the next day, we figured it would be best to give folks a dry run on getting to the hotel for the ball the next night. Also, because so many of the ball attendees will be spending all day in town on Inauguration Day, we have decided to give them the chance to pre-position their evening attire at the hotel the night...

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge heard arguments Thursday in the case of an atheist who wants to prevent a Christian minister from reciting a prayer at President Bush's inauguration. Michael Newdow -- best known for trying to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance -- told U.S. District Judge John Bates that allowing an overtly Christian prayer at the Jan. 20 ceremony violates the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs. Attorneys representing Bush and his inaugural committee argued that prayers have been widely accepted at inaugurals for more than 200 years and that Bush's decision to...

MTV held inauguration balls for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. In 2001, they didn't hold one for George W. Bush. The reason they said was that Al Gore's 36-day crusade to steal the election "did not give them enough time" to organize one for Bush. It's now 2005, and with one week till Bush's inauguration, I'm not seeing MTV holding a inauguration party. Is this is the case or is MTV's bias showing again? P.S. The question above is probably a 99.99% rhetorical question.