Free Republic

The health care legislation about to be passed by the U.S. Senate requires all Americans to purchase health insurance. All Americans, that is, except for the Senate, other members of Congress and their staff. The Democrats refuse to even allow vote on the matter.....

SEIU is so much more than just the union partner of ACORN. They are among the President's top advisers. Last week when the White House released its first "visitors list" the most frequent visitor was the head of the ACORN affiliated Union the SEIU Andrew Stern who showed up on the visitors roster twenty times. The Union has also been acting as the President's personal thugs. In the beginning the congressional town halls might have been loud but they were never violent, but once the Democrats began urge the SEUI to confront the opponents of Obamacare, that all changed. It...

A state worker is recovering after a bloody brawl at a union hall. He says members of the local SEIU 1000 beat him up and sent him to the hospital all because he wanted to expose allegedl corruption within the union. Ken Hamidi is a state worker at the California Franchise Tax Board. Last night he walked into a union hall in Sacramento for an SEIU local 1000 meeting. After he and a photographer walked in to the meeting, it didn't take long for Hamidi to be right out the door and on his way to the hospital.

SACRAMENTO -- The state will pay $335,000 to settle a lawsuit stemming from a crash involving former state Sen. Carole Migden. Supervising Deputy Attorney General Steven Gevercer said Monday that state officials have agreed to pay the sum to 33-year-old Ellen Butawan of Vallejo. Butawan sued Migden and the state after suffering minor injuries when Migden rear-ended her in May 2007 along Interstate 80 corridor in Solano County. Witnesses reported Migden talking on the phone and driving wildly in her state-owned SUV before the crash.

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled that a Marine cannot sue Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha for defamation. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying he and his comrades killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Murtha argued he has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker...

A decorated ex-cop who claimed he tested positive for cocaine because he ingested the drug during oral sex with his girlfriend can't have his job back, a Manhattan judge has ruled. Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower last month shot down helicopter pilot Jon Goldin's attempt to overturn his April 2008 dismissal from the NYPD. Goldin, a 15-year veteran, tested positive for cocaine in October 2006 in a random drug test using hairs from his arm. Goldin's lawsuit said the cocaine in his system was the product of "passive ingestion" from performing oral sex on girlfriend Coreen McCarthy, who, once he...

Franklin County deputies accused of tampering with inmate's food Tuesday, March 24, 2009 7:40 AM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Two deputies assigned to the Downtown Franklin County jail are being investigated after being accused of tampering with an inmate's food. According to sources at the jail, the deputies fed a sandwich to an inmate after having another inmate touch the sandwich with his penis. Sources also said that the deputies used a cell phone to take pictures of the incident. The Franklin County sheriff's office confirmed that the deputies are being investigated and have been reassigned to the control center, where...

Chattanooga Police Det. Kenneth Freeman will not face charges in an incident in which he shoved a 71-year-old greeter at the Wal-Mart in Collegedale to the floor after he tried to stop him while doing a receipts check. > A police report says a customer then told Det. Freeman, "You can't push down an old man" and began struggling with him. It says Det. Freeman then shoved that man, Gholom Ghassedi, through a glass door. Officers found Mr. Ghassedi with blood on his neck, but he declined medical treatment. Sgt. McPherson broke up the fight between Det. Freeman and Mr....

Monday 12/22, 2:41am CT -- This entry was formerly entitled, "Elect Schwarzenegger President? Obama Says Yes We Can! Dear L.A. Times..." Now, the plot thickens -- the story of the story. As it turns out, this article was featured in Drudge Report as well as Free Republic and then... poof! The lead disappeared! Funny how that can happen. Was it because of the implications this has, at such a sensitive time -- what with cases before the Supreme Court showing Obama to be a fictitious candidate, not a natural born Citizen at all? And with Congress yet to certify the...

The committee hosting the Democratic National Convention is using the city's gas pumps to fill up on fuel, avoiding state and federal highway taxes, officials said today. "There's something there that just doesn't seem right to me because, in a sense, you're saying then that the officials who pass the laws are not willing to live by them, and that concerns me," Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz said. The issue came up during the council's weekly meeting with Mayor John Hickenlooper when the Public Works Department requested authorization to be reimbursed by the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee for use of "fueling...

SPRINGFIELD -- The Greene County sheriff fired a correctional officer who was charged this week with misusing his position for personal gain. A detective says Steven Donovan used a computer system that he didn't have clearance to use -- to clear his name. Donovan is charged with misuse of official information by a public servant. That’s a misdemeanor that could get him up to a year in a county jail if he’s convicted or pleads guilty. The detective says Donovan admits he cleared a warrant for his own arrest from Phelps County on a statewide computer system known as MULES...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A lawyer who watched a police officer park illegally in front of a restaurant, then wait around while his meal was prepared, issued the officer a series of citizen-initiated violations. Eric Bryant said he was sitting at the restaurant March 7 when Officer Chad Stensgaard parked his patrol car next to a no-parking sign and walked inside to wait for his food, the Portland Mercury reported Thursday. Bryant told the weekly paper that when he asked Stensgaard about his car, the officer asked Bryant: "If someone broke into your house, would you rather have the police be...

SACRAMENTO – Saying that government employees shouldn't be able to evade traffic tickets because they have secret license plates, Assemblyman Todd Spitzer said Monday that he will propose legislation to help traffic enforcement agencies pierce the shield. Spitzer was responding to an Orange County Register investigation that showed that a Department of Motor Vehicles program designed to protect law enforcement from criminals was giving them another kind of protection: They can drive on toll roads without paying, run red light cameras with impunity and park illegally. For example, 3,722 public employees have run the 91 Express Lanes in the past...

Today's New York Post reports that new Governor David Paterson has authorized Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to launch a criminal probe into the New York State Police. The allegations to be investigated include illegal leaks of information statewide, politically motivated investigations and looking the other way while former Governor Eliot Spitzer repeatedly patronized high priced prostitutes. If this is how the state's police operate, no wonder Hillary has expressed interest in running for governor if her presidential bid fails.

November 28, 2007 -- THE publisher of Sen. Ted Kennedy's autobiography won't likely recoup his $8.5 million advance unless the 75-year-old Democrat finally tells what really happened in 1969 at Chappaquiddick, where Kennedy's car went off a bridge, drowning campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne. But Jonathan Karp, head of the Twelve imprint at Hachette Book Group USA, isn't worried. Karp told Page Six yesterday, "When we met with Sen. Kennedy, he assured us he would be candid." Kennedy, who didn't report the Martha's Vineyard crash to police for many hours, eventually pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident...

Could a description of Mary Jo Kopechne's death in a car accident possibly not mention Ted Kennedy till five paragraphs later? Yes. That's how the Times Leader, the Wilkes Barre, PA based newspaper reported the passing away at age 89 of Mary Kopechne's mother Gwen, a local resident. Here's the opening paragraph [emphasis added]: A mother who lost her daughter in a well-publicized automobile accident in Massachusetts nearly 39 years ago was remembered Saturday as a caring woman who loved talking, drinking coffee and making pancakes for breakfast.

Are Congressmen above the law? The case of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich against Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) tests this basic question. Of course there are other reasons to ask the same question. In a year when Congressional committees see no limits to what they will subpoena from the executive branch or about what they will interrogate its officers and employees, they rushed to court to keep the Department of Justice from subpoenaing the records of a Congressman caught with tens of thousands of dollars in his freezer. Bad as shielding suspicious Congressional cold cash from view may be, insulating Congressmen...

On This Day In History July 18, 1969: Incident on Chappaquiddick Island Shortly after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts drives an Oldsmobile off a wooden bridge into a tide-swept pond. Kennedy escaped the submerged car, but his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, did not. The senator did not report the fatal car accident for 10 hours. On the evening of July 18, 1969, while most Americans were home watching television reports on the progress of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission, Kennedy and his cousin Joe Gargan were hosting a cookout and party...

AUSTIN — A former bartender at a Texas Capitol-area bar has sued her old employer, claiming she was fired because she refused to serve state Sen. John Whitmire when he was drunk. A top aide to Whitmire, D-Houston, said she was present that night at the Cloak Room and called the bartender's allegations about the senator a "complete fabrication." In her lawsuit, Rebekah L. Lear said she lost her job at the bar because she refused to serve Whitmire a second scotch on the night of March 8. Lear also alleges that Whitmire threatened to have her fired. Lear claims...

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A court hearing for state Sen. Jerry Cooper, who is facing charges of driving under the influence, was postponed today for 12 weeks. Cooper's lawyer, Jack Mitchell, said the lawmaker could not appear in court today because he had a doctor's appointment related to injuries from the wreck that led to drunken driving and speeding charges. Rutherford County General Sessions Judge David Lowery rescheduled the preliminary hearing for Aug. 3. "Senator Cooper is undergoing medical treatment today," Mitchell said. "He is still in a certain amount of pain." Cooper was critically injured in a car crash on...

DEARBORN, Mich. -- A police officer who admitted taking marijuana from criminal suspects and baked it into brownies with his wife will avoid criminal charges. The police department's decision not to pursue a case against former policeman Edward Sanchez left a bad taste in the mouth of at least one city official, who vowed to investigate. "If you're a cop and you're arresting people and you're confiscating the marijuana and keeping it yourself, that's bad. That's real bad," said City Councilman Doug Thomas. Sanchez, who resigned last year from the department in this Detroit suburb, declined comment Wednesday. Police Commander...

A police officer will avoid criminal charges despite admitting he took marijuana from criminal suspects and, with his wife, baked it into brownies. The police department's decision not to pursue a case against former Cpl. Edward Sanchez left a bad taste in the mouth of at least one city official, who vowed to investigate. "If you're a cop and you're arresting people and you're confiscating the marijuana and keeping it yourself, that's bad. That's real bad," said City Councilman Doug Thomas.

A city police officer who recently received an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving has been charged with drunken driving, authorities said. Specialist Charles Beebe's SUV was pulled over Wednesday in Aurora, Ind., after a motorist reported that he had forced two vehicles off the road, the arresting officer's report said. Beebe failed a field sobriety test and agreed to a chemical test. His blood-alcohol content was 0.08 percent, the point at which a motorist is considered legally drunk in Indiana, according to the arrest report. Beebe, 54, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and was released on $1,500...

A former Monroe County Sheriff's deputy has been found not guilty of the most serious charge against him. The case involved a deadly drunk driving crash. James Telban was found not guilty of vehicular manslaughter, but he was found guilty on a charge of DWI, and failure to yield. The case dates back to September 6th of last year when Telban drove with a blood alcohol level 3 times the legal limit, and he pulled out into the path of motorcyclist Peter Volkmuth of Greece. Volkmuth died in that crash. Assistant District Attorney Chris Rodeman says unfortunately a judge did...

TACOMA, Wash. — Ambulances, police cars and fire trucks might have to pay tolls when crossing the new Tacoma Narrows bridge. Some Pierce County officials, including Sheriff Paul Pastor and Executive John Ladenburg, are lobbying against the idea. "It is silly to have us pay an admission fee to save lives," Pastor told The Tacoma News Tribune. "I understand they want to pay the bridge debt, but they are, by this policy, creating a far more urgent problem and creating a potentially dangerous situation."

Trenton, N.J. (AP) -- It was an ominous tale — an erratic driver in a red pickup racing wildly along the nation's busiest toll road sends the governor's sport utility vehicle careening into a guard rail. But that story, relayed hours after Gov. Jon S. Corzine was critically injured, has been debunked by a new state police report detailing how his driver was dashing with emergency lights flashing at 91 mph in a 65 mph zone. The alleged erratic driver wasn't a villain but a young man trying to get out of the way of the governor's onrushing SUV. Corzine's...

N.J. Gov.'s SUV Went 91 Mph Before Crash Apr 17 04:19 PM US/Eastern TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The SUV carrying Gov. Jon S. Corzine was traveling about 91 mph moments before it crashed, Superintendent of State Police Col. Rick Fuentes said Tuesday. The governor was critically injured when the vehicle crashed into a guardrail on the Garden State Parkway just north of Atlantic City last week. He apparently was not wearing his seat belt as he rode in the front passenger's seat. The speed limit along that stretch of the parkway is 65 mph. The state trooper-driven sport utility vehicle...

An airline employee led former Vice President Al Gore and two associates around airport security lines before police spotted the breach and required them to be screened, an airport spokeswoman said Thursday. The American Airlines employee led the three down to the lower baggage level Wednesday and swiped each of them through a secure turnstile with her security badge, Nashville International Airport spokeswoman Lynne Lowrance said. She declined to identify the employee. "Everyone goes through security," she said of the employee's action. "It showed bad judgment. They were trying to be helpful, maybe too helpful." The employee will be required...

The Bristol County district attorney yesterday defended throwing out OUI charges against a politically connected socialite who flunked four sobriety tests and two breath tests, blaming red tape for blocking prosecutors from getting the Breathalyzer report. “This case could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” said DA Paul F. Walsh Jr. Walsh’s office dropped OUI charges against Suzanne Magaziner last week despite a police report alleging that she twice blew .12 on the Breathalyzer, which is above the legal limit of .08. But Walsh said his prosecutor, Roger Ferris, decided he had little chance to win the case, mainly...

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- A murder charge was dismissed Tuesday against a sheriff's deputy accused of shooting an unarmed teenager after a grand jury foreman said he had checked the wrong box on the indictment paperwork.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Commercial activities of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are protected from lawsuits under tribal sovereign immunity, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The ruling reverses a court of appeals decision in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a non-Indian against two corporations of the Eastern Washington tribe and a supervisor. The opinion, written by Justice Richard B. Sanders, found that state laws echo federal laws granting the Colvilles' tribal corporations sovereign immunity unless there is an express waiver by the tribe or immunity is abrogated by Congress. Tribal sovereign immunity protects tribes from suits...

November 16, 2006 - Authorities seem to have little doubt. Officials concede it looks very much like the police cruiser seen in this image was drag racing. That becomes an even bigger problem when the video shows up on the Internet. In the home video a Philadelphia Police car is seen pulling up and another two cars are seen pulling up beside it as people cheer and applaud. The audience cheers as they watch the officer in his police car apparently taking part in a drag race -- the very activity he's supposed to be combating. Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

Americans still remember vividly the scenes from a year ago when Hurricane Katrina swept away entire communities, sent thousands of families for shelter in the Super Dome, and left hundreds of thousands more homeless and jobless. Americans throughout the land were moved to help in any way they could - sending donations and aid and volunteering to meet the needs of our fellow citizens. We responded because that's what Americans do. We care for our country, help our neighbors, and lend a hand to those in need. However, as we all painfully know, the Administration did not live up to...

Tasini Says Hillary's "Above the Law" Character is NOT an Issue! RE: [Contact Jonathan] Hillary Clinton's Campaign Finance Frauds and Obstruction of Justice Re: Hillary Clinton's Campaign Finance Frauds and Obstruction of Justice Hi Peter, If you'd like to discuss give me a call here at the office. We are an issues-based campaign so we're not really addressing these sorts of questions, but I'd be happy to speak with you if you like. best, Stef (Stephanie Cannon, Tasini Campaign Official) Amazingly enough, the articulate adversary of Hillary Clinton's lock on the Democratic nomination for reelection to the Senate, doesnt believe...

(CBS) NEW YORK Last April, police targeted a sex-for-money operation at a well-known Brooklyn massage parlor. They sent in an undercover officer to catch them in the act. Instead, the cops involved were the ones who got stung. Pictures taken from a series of hidden surveillance cameras show the undercover officer entering, standing in the massage parlor lobby and then walking out. He spends a total of 43 seconds inside. Yet the officer claimed that during those 43 seconds he was solicited by all eight women working there. Moments later the vice squad moved in and the workers and massage...

From our intrepid correspondent on site down in Texas, Crawford Activist, we have this photo of Cindy Sheehan registering to vote in the local post office last Tuesday: Crawford Activist reports that Mother Sheehan then left Crawford late Tuesday afternoon to attend a conference in Seattle she is headlining. Ms. Sheehan is supposed to return to Crawford Friday morning in time to protest the RNC fundraiser near the President's ranch. Then Cindy is off again to give a speech in Washington, DC on Saturday. It seems she just can't resist those speaking fees.But hasn't our hero mother broken Texas law...

A seven-year Veteran of the Fresno Police Department was under paid administrative leave, after Police discovered drug paraphernalia in his Central Fresno home.

Late on the night of July 18, 1969, a car went off a bridge on Martha’s Vineyard. With a young senator from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy, at the wheel, the Oldsmobile sank into the water beneath the Dike Bridge. In a sequence of events that instantly became famous, Senator Kennedy escaped from the submerged vehicle and swam to shore. By 2:30 a.m. he had made his way back to his hotel in Edgartown, where he was sighted in the lobby. He made 17 phone calls to family members and associates. But not until 10 hours after the accident did he call...

The occasional football flying over the garden fence is an inconvenience familiar to most people with a young family as neighbours. It is certainly familiar to Ray Markham. He has returned more than 50 balls to policeman neighbour Stewart Bosworth and his two sons over the last two years. But when one leather ball crashed into his greenhouse recently, breaking a pane, the retired taxi firm manager decided to take a stand and refused to hand it back. The incident prompted Sergeant Bosworth to call in four colleagues from Warwickshire police to arrest Mr Markham, 68, for alleged theft of...

If an average American, upon being barred from a government building, accosted the guard blocking his way, he would face prosecution, loads of legal bills and perhaps a stretch in the Big House. But if the person laying the smackdown is a member of Congress, the case gets swept under the rug with a non-apology apology. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., will not be charged for striking a U.S. Capitol police officer who tried to stop her from entering a House office building March 29. The officer, who did not recognize her because of her new hair style and because she...

Breaking news on the local news program. More later.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

With the separation of powers, the Founders created a system with inevitable tension between Congress and the executive. Congress has been the biggest offender in stealing power from the executive in the modern era, but the May 20 FBI raid on the legislative office of William Jefferson (D., La.) seems a case in which the Justice Department has gone overboard, and even been insubordinate. Both Republican and Democratic leaders in the House have protested, prompting media clucking that Members aren't "above the law." Having spent years trying to get Congress to live by the laws it imposes on the rest...

House Speaker Dennis Hastert demanded Wednesday that the FBI surrender documents it seized and remove agents involved in the weekend raid of Rep. William Jefferson's office, under what lawmakers of both parties said were unconstitutional circumstances. "We think those materials ought to be returned," Hastert said, adding that the FBI agents involved "ought to be frozen out of that (case) just for the sake of the constitutional aspects of it." The Saturday night search of Jefferson's office on Capitol Hill brought Democrats and Republicans together in rare election-year accord, with both parties protesting agency conduct they said violated the Constitution's...

Capitol police in Washington, D.C., investigating U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s early-morning car wreck have been told by witnesses that the Rhode Island congressman was at a Capitol Hill bar before the crash, the Herald has learned. A source close to the probe said witnesses have told detectives that Kennedy was at the Hawk & Dove before he slammed his Ford Mustang into a security barrier near the U.S. Capitol. The source added that cops are continuing to seek evidence to confirm that Kennedy was at the watering hole.

Investigation Continues as Congressman Enters Mayo Clinic May 5, 2006 — Capitol Police have taken disciplinary action against a watch commander for the handling of Rep. Patrick Kennedy's car accident, acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher McGaffin said. Lou Cannon of of the Fraternal Order of Police for the District of Columbia said there are questions about whether Rep. Patrick Kennedy received special treatment. (ABC News) McGaffin said the incident was improperly delayed due to "poor judgment" on the part of police managers and that a field sobriety test should have been administered to Kennedy after his car hit a barrier...

MIDI - ALWAYS A WOMAN Patrick's out late at night...he was driving impaired Everyone who was nearby was certainly scared He had smashed up his car and although that was bad At least there was not a dead woman like there was with dad When he was in his teens he was hooked on cocaine Like all Kennedys, for the law there is disdain He had smashed up his car and although that was bad Well, at least there was not a dead woman like there was with dad Why is he getting a pass...one more Kennedy slides...it is...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had had no alcohol before the accident. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. "I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a written statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake." Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) will cooperate with a United States Capitol Police investigation into a traffic incident that occurred  early Thursday morning involving the lawmaker.       “I was involved in a traffic incident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol,” Kennedy said in his statement. “I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident.”        According to a source close to the Capitol Police, Kennedy crashed his vehicle into a security barrier shortly before 3 a.m.        Reports have indicated that Kennedy allegedly told officers who stopped to investigate the accident that he was late for a vote after stepping...