Free Republic

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Wind gusts, heavy rain and lightning have forced people to evacuate the media tents outside of the Wells Fargo Center and take shelter less than an hour before the opening gavel on the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Officials say that the media tents in the vicinity of the Wells Fargo Center are not designed to fully protect people in the event of a direct lightening strike. They’re strongly recommending that people leave their tents due to lightening that becomes a concern when the strikes are within a six-mile radius of the DNC and evacuate...

An author friend (former network newsie) is taking an in-depth look at the recently defunct News Troika. It will be a great "insiders" book. In less than a year, three of the most powerful men in America have left the public scene. Tom Brokaw has retired to the ranch, Peter Jennings is dead and Dan Rather is wiling away his days wrapped in self-pity, suspended in journalistic limbo. Rather is still employed by CBS, but he is regarded in the newsroom as a “Dead Man Walking.” Much is known about ther foundations of two of these men. Brokaw was pretty...

US Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who had hoped to replace George W. Bush as president yesterday, instead sat in the cold and clapped as the Republican began a second four-year term. Iowa Democratic Senator Tom Harkin patted Senator Kerry on the back shortly before the inauguration Senator Kerry had hoped would be his. As Mr Bush delivered his inaugural address, Senator Kerry, about 10m away on the steps of the US Capitol, joined other lawmakers and the crowd in repeated applause. Senator Kerry looked relaxed, at times wistful. He frequently smiled, able to hide any disappointment over what...

Forget Jamie Gorelick. The member of the 9/11 Commission who most deserves the boot — or at least the swiftest kick in the pants — is former Senator Bob Kerrey. The man who told PBS newsman Jim Lehrer four years ago that he needed to retire from political life because "it's time for me to breathe some private air" now won't stop polluting the public's airspace. In the past month alone, he has penned blabbermouth op-eds for the Wall Street Journal and New York Times and logged appearances on CBS's Face the Nation, CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports, NBC's Today Show...