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When I next saw Rielle weeks later, she told me that she'd been fired by the Edwards campaign. She seemed perfectly cheerful about it, but she proceeded to tell me a tale of woe—how the campaign hadn't understood her, how they'd ruined the Webisodes, how they'd impeded her vision and how Edwards himself had failed to defend her. The chief villain in this saga was Elizabeth Edwards. "Someday," Rielle said, "the truth about her is going to come out." [snip] But I didn't. I stayed in touch with Rielle for months. At lunch at the Soho House in late spring...

The resignation of Randall Tobias, the chief of the Bush administration's foreign aid programs, for "personal reasons" following the revelation that he had engaged the services of two escort-service workers has provided rich grist for amusement on the punditry circuit. There was indeed plenty of material for humor in the situation, from Tobias's strong stand in favor of abstinence teaching in AIDS prevention programs to his "I didn't inhale"-style assertion that he never had sex with the women. But the predictable laughs have obscured a much larger issue than hypocrisy in the ranks of social conservatives. The reason Tobias's call-girl...

HOLLYWOOD - Angelina Jolie has hit out at President George W. Bush, accusing him of turning the world against America. Jolie, who spends much of her time traveling the world helping the poor as an ambassador for the United Nations, insists her work has become harder since Bush was reelected--because no one she meets can understand why Americans voted for him. She says, "When I travel, people feel uncomfortable when I say I'm American. They think it's suspicious that I want to do something positive for them. "I think they wonder why the American people reelected a president who is...

<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>

A sure sign of a political movement's maturity is the discretion it shows in picking its leaders. Which is why gay groups could show how grown up they are by excommunicating James McGreevey. McGreevey, you will recall, was the corrupt governor of New Jersey who was forced to resign when it was revealed that he had appointed Golan Cipel, a poet, to run his state's homeland security department in the hope that Cipel would become the governor's male concubine. McGreevey came out of the closet only after Cipel threatened to sue him for sexual harassment. McGreevey denies accusations that he...

NUEVO LAREDO — Though he died 35 years ago, Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas is still revered for his populism and incorruptibility. Best known for nationalizing Mexico's oil industry, Cárdenas' legacy started building as soon as he became president. One month after taking office in 1935, he ordered that Mexico's casinos be closed because they were preying on their patrons' "moral deficiencies." In rowdy border towns and posh resorts that had become bawdy playgrounds for Americans, the gaming emporiums closed as the reels of the tragamonedas — "coin eaters," as slot machines are called in Spanish — stopped spinning. But today,...

 Tuesday, August 2, 2005 School says bench stays where it is By Candice Cunningham Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer MARIETTA - Despite one parent's questions about its "overtly religious" content and a possible constitutional violation, Marietta City Schools officials say they have no plans to remove a bench from the Marietta High School campus inscribed with the words "Jesus Loves You!" Marietta Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck said in a response letter to parent David Bernknopf on Friday that the bench would stay. "On the advice of legal counsel, there are no plans to do anything regarding the bench," Dr. Lembeck...

It is almost impossible to overstate how radically different Old Testament thought was from the thought of the rest of its contemporary world. And it continues to be, given how few societies affirm Judeo-Christian values and how much opposition to them exists in American society, the society that has most incorporated these values. Among the most radical of these differences was the incredible declaration that God is outside of nature and is its creator. In every society on earth, people venerated nature and worshipped nature gods. There were gods of thunder and gods of rain. Mountains were worshipped, as were...

'WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry's brash offer to meet privately with former foe President Bush [related, bio] to discuss foreign policy before Bush's meetings abroad next week with key European leaders has apparently fallen on deaf ears at the White House. ``We've offered to have Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) meet with President Bush to discuss his trip to Iraq, if the White House is interested,'' Kerry spokesman David Wade said yesterday. ``There are many areas where genuine bipartisanship would make a difference in leading our country forward, whether in national security or children's health care.'' The White House declined comment...

NEW YORK, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last week pro-lifers reacted with disdain when Hillary Clinton belatedly attempted to modify, at least in the public eye, her militant support for abortion. She failed to impress with her sincerity when she called abortion a ‘tragic choice’ for women and suggested abortifacient contraceptives as a solution. Exit polls showing voter interest in moral issues has shaken Democrat confidence in their leftist social agenda. This week, former presidential candidate John Kerry, still calling himself a Catholic, followed the new Democratic Party policy in attempting to use pro-life language to continue pushing their agenda...

Ex-Clinton Aide Ickes Backs Dean for DNC By WILL LESTER WASHINGTON (AP) - Harold Ickes, a leading Democratic activist and former aide to President Clinton, said Friday he is backing Howard Dean to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee - giving a powerful boost to the front-runner. ``I think all the candidates who are running have strong attributes, but Dean has more of the attributes than the others,'' said Ickes, who considered running for chairman himself before dropping out in early January. ``Many people say Howard Dean is a northeastern liberal, he is progressive, but his tenure as governor...

Ted Kennedy's latest rant got us to thinking about the contrast between the two greatest American political dynasties of the past half century, the Bushes and the Kennedys. Look at the two most prominent members of each dynasty, and in both cases you will see a study in contrasts... A succcessful election in Iraq will be a triumph for the Bush doctrine and the strongest rebuke yet to those Democrats who learned from Vietnam that America is a force for ill in the world. Ted Kennedy is, as The Wall Street Journal puts it today, "cheerleading for America to fail"...

Guest columnist King County voters in good hands By Corky Mattingly Special to The Times I've been particularly troubled by one recurring comment regarding the gubernatorial recount in King County. It pertains to county Elections Director Dean Logan's professionalism and integrity. There also have been suggestions that Logan's decisions are based on partisan politics and are without justification or regard to Washington state law. As president of the Washington State Association of County Auditors, I assure you nothing could be further from the truth. All 39 counties conducted the recount process according to the rules currently in place, which are...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Memo to depressed and disgruntled Democrats: Get over it and get on with it. Get over the shock and awe of the Nov. 2 electoral debacle and get on with this realization: The issue is not whatever happened to the Ohio vote. It's not who should be the next honcho at the Democratic National Committee. It's not whether the party should go back to its roots. It's Iraq, stupid. The most divisive debate of the presidential campaign was the festering violence in Iraq. The red staters stood by the president's "stay the course" mantra. The blues argued that Iraq is...

BIG Brother bosses Endemol want to make a brand new reality TV show where fellas battle it out to be a sperm donor to a wannabe mother. The programme - dubbed Make Me A Mum - will see men compete against each other to impregnate a willing woman. Hopefuls will be whittled down to two finalists - one picked for his biological compatibility and the other on personality and looks. The woman will then choose who she wants to win, according to Yahoo News. The show has yet to be snapped up by any channels worldwide and has been slammed...

Charities controlled by billionaire ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz have pledged a relatively modest $450,000 to tsunami relief in recent days, with Mrs. Heinz explaining she prefers to keep her charitable contributions local. Heinz Endowments announced Saturday that it would contribute $400,000 to tsunami relief, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. And the Washington, D.C.-based Heinz Family Philanthropies will add another $50,000. The Heinz money will go to the Brother's Brother Foundation, a local international relief group. In a prepared statement, Mrs. Heinz explained, "Obviously, our philanthropic focus is here in America and in Pittsburgh, but the astronomical proportions of this...

WASHINGTON - The senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee protested President Bush's re-election Wednesday with a new report claiming serious election irregularities and "significant disenfranchisement" of voters in Ohio. The report by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan says Congress should challenge the Electoral College vote when it is tallied Thursday in the House of Representatives and investigate all claims of voter problems in Ohio. "We have found numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential election," the report said. "There are ample grounds for challenging the electors from the state of Ohio." Ohio's 20 electoral votes were critical for...

COLUMBUS -- As Republican officials stonewall subpoenas and subvert the recount process, Rev. Jesse Jackson has pronounced Ohio's vote fraud fiasco "the biggest deal since Selma" and has called for a national rally at "the scene of the crime" in Columbus January 3. Another major national demonstration will follow in Washington on January 6, as Congress evaluates the Electoral College. Should at least one US Representative and one Senator challenge the electors' votes, a Constitutional crisis could ensue.

B. Clinton Xmas gifts to some pals are from his Clinton Library. Like Socks the Cat dolls that meow. And Air Force One toys with engines that roar.

Republicans and Democrats didn't take the day off Sunday in the state's hotly contested race for Governor. The war of words continued from the Rossi campaign, Christine Gregoire, and from protesters from both sides of the issue in Bellevue. Nothing can really happen until the state's Supreme Court decides whether hundreds of mistakenly rejected ballots from King County will count in this election. That is supposed to happen Monday. On Sunday, everyone involved in this fight came out swinging. It's people like Jack Oxford who consider themselves the wildcards of this election. He is one of the hundreds of voters...

I have slowly been nearing a sad conclusion about CMT (Country Music Television) recently, which was all but confirmed yesterday with a show that I found quite disturbing. I cannot help but wonder anymore: is CMT's agenda to make Country music “politically correct”? Taking a break from war coverage (necessary to maintain one’s sanity, as we all know!) I tuned into CMT yesterday as they were running a documentary on controversial Country songs. Intrigued, I eagerly anticipated a good look at such musical heroes of mine as Charlie Daniels, Toby Keith or Darryl Worley—with their conscience-raising songs filled with patriotism...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today Chuck Canterbury, the President of the nation's largest police labor organization, called on John Kerry to stop making misleading statements regarding his support from the law enforcement community. Both on the campaign trail and in Wednesday night's debate in Tempe, AZ, Senator Kerry has alluded that he has the support of the majority of these brave men and women. "As the elected leader of the largest organization representing America's Federal, State and local law enforcement officers, I believe it's important to point out yet again that we do not support his candidacy for...

Shameless! John Kerry lied about his own mother. In the third debate, John Kerry spoke of his mother's final moments and her words to him: "Can I say, if I could just say a word about a woman that you didn't ask about, but my mom passed away a couple years ago, just before I was deciding to run. And she was in the hospital, and I went in to talk to her and tell her what I was thinking of doing. And she looked at me from her hospital bed and she just looked at me and she said,...

...Both the veep and his wife, Lynne, reacted angrily to John Kerry's having pointedly noted in Wednesday's debate that their daughter Mary — who works for the campaign but keeps a low profile — is gay. The suspicion is that Kerry meant to damage the Republican ticket in the eyes of any voters who have a problem with Mary Cheney's sexuality — that is, in the eyes of people that Kerry considers to be bigots. Recall that Kerry's running-mate, John Edwards, also gratuitously brought up the subject.... Yesterday, Mrs. Cheney reacted furiously to Kerry's tactic, calling it "a cheap and...

There aren’t enough negative adjectives in the English language to describe the chutzpah (that’s Yiddish for colossal nerve, or gall) demonstrated by Senator John Kerry when he made the following nasty comment in the final debate: “And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney’s daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she’s being who she was, she’s being who she was born as.” The Senator was not asked about Mary Cheney. He was asked if homosexuality was a choice. President Bush answered the question honesty, saying he doesn’t know. By publicly airing that Mary...

The Death of Morality By Benjamin D. WikerIt is difficult to gain attention in an era that uses superlatives to describe dishwashing liquid and mayonnaise. Perhaps speaking simply and directly might prove such an oddity that words may again have their proper power. And so, here it is: The greatest moral crisis is now upon us.I don&#8217;t mean the continual, factory slaughter of thousands of babies a day; or the endless parade of carnal innovations mincing across the public square, howling for recognition; or even the redefinition of marriage to include the indefinite union of anything. These are effects, more...

Karmazin Says Stern Not Indecent By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/16/2004 5:27:00 PM Viacom President Mel Karmazin today defended Infinity's Feb. 24 broadcast of Howard Stern's show, saying it was not indecent. He apologized to Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) for an offensive racist remark made by a caller to the show, but said that, too, "does not fall within the ambit of the indecency definition." Clear Channel, by contrast, had very publicly yanked the same broadcast--which reportedly featured references to anal sex and use of the N-word--both because it feared the broadcast was indecent and because it said...

The war in Iraq, which has seen stiff Iraqi resistance against US and British troops, has opened up market opportunities for Russian weapons used by Baghdad's forces, military experts said. "We got a great advertising gift for our weapons in Iraq," Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by the Interfax-AVN news agency on Friday. The conflict will "generate a surge in interest in anti-aircraft defences and radio-electronic equipment," predicted Alexander Nozdrachev, head of the state-run Russian Agency for Conventional Weapons, quoted by Interfax-AVN. Russian weapons sales last year totalled 4.5 billion dollars (4.1 billion euros), concentrated mainly...

Reaction to the recent Islamofascist terror attack in Bali again underscored the great divide that separates the politically-correct proponents of enlightened leftism and multiculturalism (and peace at any price) and those few of us still living in the real world. No matter what the murderous provocation, the liberal-left tolerance crowd still manages to find "root causes" for the actions of ethnic terrorists in such "blame the victim" standby's as injurious Western globalism, imperialism, economic exploitation, insensitivity and arrogance. And of course, once the left finds "roots causes," then it goes without saying that no guilt or responsibility can be assigned...

DAILY NOTEBOOK.... The Iconoclast (www.iconoclast.ca) Good Mourning: The Democratic Party Has No Shame..... October 30, 2002: That was some party the Democrats threw last night -- and quasi election rally too. Too bad it was originally intended to be a memorial service for, er, who was that guy now, Paul...Paul...What'sHisName. Oh well, no matter. He's dead now anyway. Just so long as Bill Clinton and scores of other national Democratic figures had fun, and had their insatiable egos suitably massaged by raucous, cheering "mourners." Of course, the national media have their usual blinders on, in this morning's reports on this...