Free Republic

Our Constitution is one of our greatest assets in the fight against terrorism. A free-flowing marketplace of ideas, protected by the First Amendment, enables the ideals of democracy to defeat the totalitarian vision of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. That free marketplace faces a threat. Individuals with alleged connections to terrorist activity are filing libel suits and winning judgments in foreign courts against American researchers who publish on these matters. These suits intimidate and even silence writers and publishers. Under American law, a libel plaintiff must prove that defamatory material is false. In England, the burden is reversed....Consequently, English...

The United States is facing a major obstacle in its efforts to deport thousands of illegal immigrants, including many convicted felons: Their home countries don't want them back. This does not sit well with Sen. Arlen Specter, a veteran Republican lawmaker and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Specter was stunned at the situation after touring several prisons in his home state of Pennsylvania, where taxpayer dollars are paying to house foreigners who have served their sentences but could not be deported. In response, he drafted legislation that would punish countries that refuse to take back illegal immigrants. "There...

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said on Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with an early recurrence of Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph system. Specter, R-Pa., was originally diagnosed with the disease in 2005. At that time, he was treated with six months of chemotherapy. The disease went into remission, which lasted three years. Specter's recurrence was diagnosed based on a routine follow-up scan, which showed small lymph nodes in his chest and abdomen. A follow-up biopsy of one of the chest lymph nodes tested positive for recurrence. A bone marrow biopsy came back negative. Now, Specter will receive...

It's not every day that a Member of the world's greatest deliberative body stops by to chat about his plans "to close the Senate down." Especially if his name is Arlen Specter. But the Pennsylvania Republican tells us he's concluded that this is the only way to prod Democrats to vote on, or even hold confirmation hearings on, President Bush's appeals-court nominees. A look at the numbers explains why the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is spitting mad. In the last two years of Bill Clinton's Administration, when Mr. Specter was in the chairman's seat, the Republican-controlled Senate...

RUSH: We're gonna talk with Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, about his new book. It's Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate. Senator Specter, welcome to the program. It's nice to have you back with us here. SEN. SPECTER: Rush, thank you very much for the invitation. It's a great pleasure to talk to you and your listeners. Thanks. RUSH: The title of the book is Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate. You were battling more than cancer in the Senate. I've read the summary of the book. It's 11 to 14 pages here. It is incredibly detailed...

A look at the Sunday morning chat circuit ... Former Sen. Fred Thompson visits NBC's "Meet the Press." Of special note, the program is reaching its 60th anniversary. It debuted on Nov. 20, 1947, and is the world's longest-running TV program. It airs at 9 a.m. on WESH-Channel 2. Former President George H.W. Bush will talk to "Fox News Sunday." It airs at 9 a.m. on WOFL-Channel 35. Sen Joseph Biden will take questions on CBS' "Face the Nation." It airs at 10:30 a.m. on WKMG-Channel 6. Another guest will be Mark Penn, who is a strategist for Sen. Hillary...

Apparently, Sen. Craig left a voicemail (at the wrong number) for his lawyer, Billy Martin, the morning of his press conference. Roll Call posted the audio here. The Idaho Statesman has the transcript:"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears by all that he knows that I have been railroaded and all that. "Having all of that, we have reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on Sept. 30. I think it...

“One must question whether Justice Breyer has violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by seeking congressional intervention to stop his colleagues from expressing their reasoned legal opinions with which he disagrees.”

After calling John G. Roberts Jr. two years ago last month to ask him to serve on the Supreme Court, President Bush hung up and told aides, "I just offered the job to a great, smart, 50-year-old lawyer." The emphasis, of course, was on "50-year-old" -- Bush's way of saying he had just made a choice that would help shape the Supreme Court for three or four decades to come. Or so he thought. Roberts's seizure during a Maine vacation this week may not mean anything in terms of his longevity on the court but it certainly offered a reminder...

[Is it Alive a question appropiate for the Senator's new bill or his political career!] Pennsylvania should do the country a favor and recall Arlene Specter at best but at the very least Pennsylvanians need to look for a Republican challenger for the Senate seat in their state, Arlen Specter’s seat.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A powerful Senate Republican on Tuesday told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the firings of federal prosecutors. Sen. Arlen Specter told the embattled attorney general such that a scenario may now be necessary because, the senator maintained, Bush administration officials have made statements that might have the effect of shutting down congressional supervision. ``The constitutional authority and responsibility for congressional oversight is gone,'' said Specter, the Judiciary Committee's senior Republican. Gonzales sat just a few feet away, at the witness table, as Pennsylvania Republican declared: ``If that is to happen,...

STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- In unusually harsh personal criticism on the Senate floor, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., on Wednesday accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of being "rude," "dictatorial" and "ineffective." The outburst by Specter came after the Senate's rare all night-session and emotional vote on an amendment calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Reid interrupted Specter after he said it was a "ridiculous waste of time" to keep the Senate in session all night Tuesday to debate the amendment, which Specter opposed. "I would bet, with all due respect to my friend, the senior senator...

The U.S. Senate recently blocked a bill that would have junked 72 years of U.S. labor law and, for the first time, allowed the federal government to force employers and workers alike to sign union contracts without their consent. The proposal, which passed the House with support from Rep. Mark Udall, contained an offensive and little-known provision that would have allowed a government arbitrator to impose a two-year contract on businesses and workers that actually specified wages and working conditions. Neither the employer nor the workers could appeal the decision. The government has no place mandating how much private employers,...

June 28th was a very fine day, indeed. For one thing, under pressure from my fellow Americans, the boobs in the Beltway caved in, and stopped trying to shove the amnesty bill down our collective throats. It was also the day that the Supreme Court finally got around to deciding that in a society that keeps insisting that it’s colorblind, race can no longer be used as a means to determine the makeup of student bodies. I’d like to think that Martin Luther King, Jr., would have approved, just as I take comfort in knowing that Jesse Jackson doesn’t. My...

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., told farm workers yesterday that the immigration reform bill will be brought back to the Senate floor for deliberation within days, and that the Senate is determined to vote on it, even if it means working weekends and during the July 4th weekend. Once the energy bill clears the Senate floor, the bipartisan but controversial immigration bill, written by Kennedy and Sen. Arlen J. Specter, R-Pa., will be back before the Senate, he said. "Dealing with immigration is central to the challenge of civil rights," Kennedy said. "We have come a long way." Kennedy,...

The Senate's Republican leader says he is unsure whether he will vote for the immigration bill President Bush strongly supports, underscoring the measure's precarious status. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has long called for an immigration overhaul, saying the current situation is deeply flawed. And as the Senate minority leader, McConnell is central to shepherding legislation the president wants. But in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, McConnell said he would not decide how to vote on the measure until a long series of amendments are disposed of next week. "The bill on the merits is a mixed bag,"...

Today, it looks like the immigration issue is ripping apart the Republican Party. But tomorrow - 2008 - could be a different story. Specifically, it's George W. Bush who is ripping up Republican unity. Reflecting his own rich kid Texas roots - doesn't everyone own a ranch, requiring lots of nonwhite people to do the work? - Bush is determined to bring the benefits of the Tara Plantation lifestyle to more of his fellow millionaires. But what about the middle class, which finds its wages depressed, its culture besieged and its sovereignty challenged? Well, frankly, Bush doesn't give a damn....

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told The Politico that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign, becoming the most prominent Republican to desert the White House over the bungled firing of U.S. attorneys. The call from McCain, one of the leading Republican candidates for the White House, adds to excruciating pressure on President Bush, who has said he continues to support his beleaguered attorney general. The senator disclosed his view as his Straight Talk Express luxury bus rumbled away from the second stop on his announcement tour, a rally held in the pouring rain in a park in New...

Key Senate Republicans on Sunday urged President George W. Bush to compromise with Congress over White House aides' testimony as support for U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales eroded further. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Gonzales would have to step down if he did not tell the truth when he told Congress that he was not involved in discussions about a group of fired U.S. prosecutors at the center of the Washington controversy. Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and possible presidential candidate, told ABC's "This Week" that Gonzales lost credibility and...

His current term isn't up until 2010, but "Snarlin' Arlen" Specter announced he plans to run for a sixth term in the U.S. Senate. "There are a lot of important things to be done and finally after being here to acquire some seniority, I'm in a position to do that," the 77-year-old Specter told the Associated Press. "I'm full of energy and my wife doesn't want me home for breakfast, lunch and dinner." If he wins in 2010, Specter will be 86 by the time his term ends. That's kind of young for the geriatric Senate, where Robert Byrd, the...

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a moderate who has often clashed with the Bush administration and his fellow GOP lawmakers, said Monday he plans to seek a sixth term in 2010. "There are a lot of important things to be done and finally after being here to acquire some seniority, I'm in a position to do that," said Specter, 77. "I'm full of energy and my wife doesn't want me home for breakfast, lunch and dinner." Specter said he has fundraisers planned, including a large one April 4 in Philadelphia. "It's an enormous task, and that's why...

The Rockefellers and Iran: Jay Rockefeller’s Reversal and the Iranian-American LobbyBy Fedora In 1979, Rockefeller representatives launched an unsuccessful operation to lobby the Carter administration in support of the Shah of Iran, who was seeking safe haven in the wake of a coup by Islamic revolutionaries. Codenamed Project Alpha, the operation was spearheaded by Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with support from oil lobby lawyer John McCloy. Although Project Alpha won the support of National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, it met opposition from Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and failed to win...

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer 41 minutes ago A Senate Republican on Tuesday directly challenged President Bush's declaration that "I am the decision-maker" on issues of war. "I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider," Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said during a hearing on Congress' war powers amid an increasingly harsh debate over Iraq war policy. "The decider is a shared and joint responsibility," Specter said. The question of whether to use its power over the government's purse strings to force an end to the war in Iraq, and...

The Senate, siding with President Bush shortly after he personally lobbied lawmakers at the Capitol, rejected a move Thursday by a leading Republican to allow terrorism suspects to challenge their imprisonment in court. The vote paved the way for final passage of Bush's plan to establish "military commissions" to prosecute terrorism suspects in legislation that also spells out violations of the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that sets international standards for the treatment of war prisoners. Republicans say the bill is necessary to ensure that terrorists can be brought to justice and that CIA personnel will not be charged with war...

Inside the Beltway "Very odd," says our source. "They sat at a table in the back." Referring to the intriguing trio of Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, and his wife, Valerie Plame, of CIA-leak fame,

[JURIST] US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website; JURIST news archive], outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], has indicated that President Bush may have to nominate moderate judges to any future vacancies on the US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] following midterm elections that ceded control of Congress to the Democrats. Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer also quoted Specter as speculating that the Democrats, who formally take control in January, may restrict or even halt judicial confirmations until the 2008 presidential elections. In related comments, Specter expressed hope that the lame-duck Congress will push through legislation [JURIST...

W henever anyone notices that the Bush administration is claiming powers of imprisonment, torture and surveillance that people once thought the Constitution was designed to prevent, White House spokesmen put on a solemn face and explain that it's a different world since 9/11. But from the ballyhooed prisoner "compromise" negotiated with a few rebel Republican senators, the change is actually bigger than that: It's a different world since 1215. Not satisfied with cutting up the Constitution, the administration is now mangling the Magna Carta. The compromise bill takes away from federal courts the right to hear habeas corpus suits from...

A LEADING Republican senator said today he will fight to give detainees the right to challenge their imprisonment, creating a new potential obstacle for legislation US President George W. Bush wants in order to put terrorism suspects on trial. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter said he would join Democrats working to amend a bill setting up trial procedures for foreign terrorism suspects that Republican leaders are trying to push through Congress this week. As it now stands, the bill, which the White House was forced to negotiate with a group of Senate Republicans, would bar inmates held at the...

President Bush's electronic surveillance program has been a festering sore on our body politic since it was publicly disclosed last December. Civil libertarians, myself included, have insisted that the program must be subject to judicial review to ensure compliance with the Fourth Amendment. The president has insisted that he was acting lawfully within his constitutional responsibilities. On its face, the program seems contrary to the plain text of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which regulates domestic national security wiretapping. The president argues, however, that his inherent constitutional powers supersede the statute. Without knowing the exact contours of the...

Nothing at all WASHINGTON (CNS) -- What does a pope elected at the end of the 13th century have to do with the Senate debate about embryonic stem-cell research? Pope Boniface VIII, best known for his efforts to exercise temporal power over the French monarchy, was cited -- albeit misidentified -- by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., from the Senate floor July 18 to represent religious leaders who had slowed scientific progress over the centuries. "Pope Boniface VII (sic) banned the practice of cadaver dissection in the 1200s," Specter said. "This stopped the practice for over 300 years and greatly slowed...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 7/1 and 7/2/06 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: Bush was wrong on all the issues McCain is right onThe Supreme's smack down the Bushies (who cares if it endangers the country, it's NEWS!!!) Topics: Hamdan, Immigration, and Iraq Guests Senator John McCain, Republican - Arizona He's BAAAAACKMcCain's back and Georgie's got himIt's such a tragedy that President Bush didn't listen to Saint...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 6/24 and 6/25/06 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.Sunday Shows for 6-25-06 ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: What is wrong with these Democrats?  We hand them the election on a silver platter and they just screw it up!Bush has had two good weeks - it's time to bring out the big guns and knock that fool down a peg Topics: Iraq Withdrawal?: In a pair of exclusive...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for Saturday, June 10th and Sunday, June 11th, 2006 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows on 6/11/006.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: Yeah, yeah, a minor annoyance was murdered by the ruthless US military and Bushitler.  So what?Did you get a look at the hunk, Al Gore, with Steponallofus last week?  Talk about Presidential! Topics: Amb. L. Paul Bremer on al-Zarqawi's death and the fight for IraqRep. Reynolds vs....

Vice President Dick Cheney Thursday defended himself against accusations by a leading Republican senator that he worked to thwart Senate plans to make telephone executives testify at a hearing about a U.S. domestic spying program. A day after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter rebuked Cheney for trying to head off subpoenas of the phone company executives, Cheney acknowledged that he had spoken to Senate leaders and members of Specter's committee. He said in a letter to Specter that he acted when the administration became concerned about a "compulsory process to force testimony" in a matter that could involve classified...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and conservative members of his panel have reached agreement on legislation that may determine the legality of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance program, GOP sources say. Specter has mollified conservative opposition to his bill by agreeing to drop the requirement that the Bush administration seek a legal judgment on the program from a special court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978. Instead, Specter agreed to allow the administration to retain an important legal defense by allowing the court, which holds its hearings in secret, to review the...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 5/13 - 5/14 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: It's Mother's Day - they want the day off to be with Mom.Put Biden and Hagel on... it's autopilot time... we can phone this one in!We say that the NSA programs are all bad, therefore they're bad.  Don't listen to anyone else.See?  We're not being mean to (Laura) Bush, which means we're fair and...

The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: The battle is joined!  Place your bets!  How badly will the GOP lose? Topics: Power Politics: Two Sunday exclusives as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and DNC Chairman Howard Dean join me to discuss gas prices, the 2006 elections and the war in Iraq. Will record low approval ratings for President Bush and rising gas prices fuel a Democratic takeover of Congress in...

...Time spoke to dozens of academics, political scientists and current and former Senators...

The following is a partial transcript of the April 9, 2006, edition of "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace": "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" GUEST HOST BRIT HUME: On Friday, a Senate compromise on immigration fell apart, leaving in doubt, for now at least, whether passage of a bill that would resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants living here is possible. Joining us now to discuss what's next is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter, who comes to us from Cartagena, Colombia. He's on the first stop of a trip through South America to check, among...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for DATE HERE (not the live thread)Journal Editorial Report (Paul Gigot) - FNC show page Meme: Don't believe what the dinosaur media is telling you about November, but don't discount it, either Topics: "Runs, Hits and Errors"A discussion of GOP prospects (from OpinionJournal web site) After Tom DeLay's departure, how bad does November's election now look for Republicans, and can they do anything to stop a rout? The 2006 elections: With DeLay out of the picture, can the GOP get its mojo back? (FNC web site)Baseball steroids (from OpinionJournal web site) Major League Baseball finally confronts...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version March 28, 2006, 3:58 p.m. Arlen Specter and the White House’s “Preposterous� Defense The Judiciary Committee chairman vents his frustration with the White House. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter Tuesday said the White House has "pretty much abandoned" the "preposterous argument" that the National Security Agency's warrantless-surveillance program was authorized by Congress when it passed the authorization for the use of military force in the war on terror. But Specter said the White House "has an argument" that the program is legal based on the president's inherent authority under...

Journal Editorial Report (Paul Gigot) - FNC show page Meme: The Bush administration policies are a failure and Bush has bad poll numbersBush's bad poll numbers are sinking the RepublicansBush must clean house and replace those the MSM hates (because they're not listening to us!)The paleocons and country club Republicans have turned their back on Bush (the Nixon wing of the party tries to rise again) Topics: 'Civil War'? - Tune in this weekend for a discussion of Iraq and Harvard professors' campaign against Israel. (Opinion Journal web site promo)Is Iraq really headed toward civil war? An interview with Reuel...

As debate over a contested immigration bill grinds slowly through a Senate committee, observers said it grows more likely that the only provisions remaining when the final vote arrives will be ones already enacted by previous legislation. The Senate Judiciary Committee has spent weeks considering a border-security bill approved in December by the House. That legislation included stringent enforcement provisions such as stiffer fines for migrant smugglers and making it a crime to assist an illegal immigrant in any way. The Senate is widely expected to adopt a softer version of the House's hard-edged bill. The committee has largely accepted...

WASHINGTON - Senators writing a major immigration law overhaul bill moved Thursday toward accepting an approach under which illegal immigrants could stay in the United States while working toward permanent residence and eventual citizenship. Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., stressed that his plan moving through the Senate Judiciary Committee would not constitute an amnesty, a policy rejected by the Bush administration and most Americans, according to polls. Kennedy said it would not give the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally any advantage over the 3 million living overseas while waiting for a decision on green...

There are few things more disappointing in politics than a well-intentioned compromise that falls short, solving nothing and satisfying no one. But that's what appears to be happening in the Senate as Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter tries to build consensus around a proposal for dealing with the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. More than two years after President Bush floated the idea of a guest-worker program to connect "willing workers with willing employers" and eliminate the underground economy manned by illegal immigrants, the Judiciary Committee is marking up a bill that combines a variety of proposals....

See for example this thread first. The Senate wants more H-1B's (since Silicon Valley said, "Please!") If you are in tech and this passes, by heck your job will not be worth a sneeze!

Sen. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said Sunday that while President Bush's terrorist surveillance program is a "flat out violation" of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it may be entirely legal because of powers granted the president by the Constitution. "There is an involved question here . . . as to whether the president's powers under Article 2, his inherent powers, supersede a statute." Specter told NBC's "Meet the Press." The Pennsylvania Republican said that if the FISA statute "is inconsistent with the Constitution, the Constitution governs and the constitutional powers predominate." Specter, whose committee is set to commence...

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity. In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess. This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two...

A report commissioned in mid-1999 by Rep. Curt Weldon (R) looks into possible Chinese front companies in the US seeking technology for the Chinese military. Dr. Eileen Preisser and Michael Maloof are commissioned to make the report. Dr. Preisser, who runs the Information Dominance Center at the US Army's Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA) and will later become closely tied to Able Danger, uses LIWA's data mining capabilities to search unclassified information. According to Maloof, their results show Chinese front companies in the US posing as US corporations that acquire technology from US defense contractors. When the study is completed...

The Hillary-Condi avalanche By Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW Curb your enthusiasm and fasten your seat belts; today marks the first day of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid. This is a moment of glee in many camps. Others are observing a moment of silence with a primal scream quickly to follow...But it's not all demographics, Morris says. "Condi is a woman that has made it on her own, whose accomplishments are hers." Hold that up to Hillary, whose "accomplishments are entirely derivative of her husband's," making even the National Organization of I-don't-know-what-kind-of-Women wince.