Free Republic

When it comes to racism, our country remains awkward about trying to define what it is and when it really happens. Racism isn't what it used to be. Back in the day, it was horrible in-your-face humiliation hurled for reasons that included fear, insecurity, hate or an utter lack of decency. Today, the word "racism" is used so flippantly in politics that its true heinous intent often is diluted. Race has taken political center-stage once more with generalizations that all people who participate in tea party events are racists because they oppose President Barack Obama's policies. Racism also often is...

As both political parties consider how to gain the fickle support of Tea Party activists and independent voters in the 2010 midterm elections, another increasingly dissatisfied tribe exists for both to lure: Hillary Democrats. No other candidate has captured their frustration better than U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Democrat trying to take out one-time Republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the state's May primary. A campaign web-ad for Sestak shows real Democrats who voted for Obama, set in a stark black-and-white backdrop, voicing their collective dissatisfaction with the president's support of Specter: "That's not change we can believe...

Pennsylvania soon may scrape the bottom of the federal pork barrel. The Feb. 8 death of U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha was "a major blow" to federal funding in the state, according to Jeff Brauer, a political science professor at Keystone College. The Johnstown Democrat, in Congress since 1974, held considerable clout as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee. Brauer foresees another blow when Ed Rendell ends eight years as governor this year. The Philadelphia Democrat's influential national connections also have brought federal money into the state. And if U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, another Philadelphia Democrat, survives a May primary...

"This is a warning sign on so many levels, when people like Evan Bayh walk way rather than serve their country," said Steve McMahon, a former Senate staffer for the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. "The moderate Democrat is a vanishing breed," said McMahon, a Democratic strategist on Capitol Hill. "It is the moderates that make the difference between being in the majority and being in the minority, a problem for the Democrats." Former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum said Bayh did what he himself should have done when faced with a similar situation in the 2006 mid-term...

The person who serves the unexpired term of the late Rep. Jack Murtha could be the last to hold the 12th Congressional District seat, political experts say. "You could envision it," said Erik Arneson, press secretary for state Senate Republicans, on the possibility of slow population growth eliminating the 12th District in 2011. Murtha, who will be buried today near his hometown of Johnstown, died at age 77 of complications arising from gallbladder surgery. He served 36 years in Congress. His term expires at the end of this year. Franklin & Marshall College political analyst G. Terry Madonna says Murtha's...

You have to hand it to the White House: It is at least consistent in sending the absolutely wrong message to voters pondering whether to keep Democrats in control of Congress in the coming midterm election. Even the body language is all wrong. Receive news alerts Sign Up Salena Zito RealClearPolitics election 2010 pa sen Democratic Party Republican Party Barack Obama [+] More On Tuesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs mocked Sarah Palin's crib notes on the palm of her hand. The next day, President Obama told Business Week that he didn't begrudge gazillion-dollar bonuses for executives of banks...

In a political year in which voters want to "throw the bums out," the last thing any candidate should do is run as the bum. That's why Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, lost his seat in New Jersey in November. It's why candidates such as Democrat Creigh Deeds in Virginia's gubernatorial race, Republican Dede Scozzafava in New York's congressional race and, yes, Democrat Martha Coakley in Massachusetts all lost. They ran as bums - slang for incumbent. One can only imagine President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, saying to anyone within shouting distance last Tuesday night: "The people...

Wise strategists need look no further than U.S. House races in Pennsylvania to gauge the country's political temperature. In the past decade, Pennsylvania has been a Democrat-leaning presidential battleground. It went for Gore (51-46), Kerry (51-48) and Obama (55-44). "Putting these numbers in perspective, the state tends to vote about 4 percentage points more for the Democratic nominee than the nation as a whole does," says Lara Brown, Villanova University professor. Democrats have been increasingly confident that trend will continue, given 2006 midterm and 2008 general election wins. But change can come quickly.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- They said he couldn't be coached. James Traficant played quarterback for the University of Pittsburgh, and was drafted and released by the Steelers. But when his pro football career didn't pan out, he ended up in politics -- serving 17 years in Congress. "I got involved in politics, like a fool," Traficant said, sitting in the back booth of the Yankee Kitchen diner. "Made a lot of enemies. Found myself in prison and seen the underside, the underbelly, of the United States of America." The colorful Traficant, 68, is free after seven years in prison. He was...

A congressman who oversees American intelligence operations, a former CIA operative and an intelligence official agree that Christmas Day's aborted attack on a U.S. airliner proves that the nation's anti-terrorism efforts are flawed. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano praised the nation's aviation-security system Sunday but backtracked Monday, admitting the system "did not work in this instance." "Clearly, the system did not work," Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., told the Tribune-Review yesterday. Hoekstra is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "Success is not a person on a plane with an explosive," he said. "That is a failure. The system designed...

In the predawn hours this morning, over 30 people loaded a chartered bus in a parking lot across from Ross Park Mall were seeing red and it had nothing to do with getting up before 3:00 a.m. "We want to let Washington know that we are not going to let them pass legislation without them knowing how we feel," said Pam Smith of Evans City. Smith was part of a group of grassroots activists and concerned citizens heading down to Washington, D.C., this morning to issue a "code red" alert to stop the health care overhaul legislation from advancing in...

NEW YORK - Eight years ago, President George W. Bush stood on a pile of rubble and told New Yorkers, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Perhaps President Barack Obama should take a cue from his predecessor and hear what New Yorkers say about his administration's decision to prosecute five Sept. 11 suspects here. Finding a New Yorker who is happy about that is difficult. "I don't see the upside," said Louis Polanco, a retired New York City cop. "The unprecedented...

Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold reminded President Barack Obama via a statement this afternoon that the public option in health care reform is "real change." From the Feingold statement: "Opposing the public plan is an endorsement of the status quo in this country that has left tens of millions of Americans uninsured or underinsured and put massive burdens on employers. I have heard too many horror stories from my constituents about how the so-called competitive marketplace has denied them coverage from the outset, offered a benefit plan that covers everything but what they need or failed them some other way. A...

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. says the majority and the most serious of criminal charges against workers for a community activist group stemming from a voter registration investigation will not be affected by a constitutional challenge filed by the American Civil liberties Union.

A recent Gallup poll found that twice as many Americans have become more conservative than liberal. Yet, at the same time, twice as many Americans now identify themselves as Democrats as opposed to Republicans. How did this seeming paradox come about? What, if anything, can the Republican Party do to restore itself? Or are these so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats the new placeholder for the conservative spot on the block? First, let's look at the origins of conservatism. British parliamentarian Edmund Burke, defender of the colonists' cause to preserve their rights against oppressive taxation, was conservatism's founding father. He spoke in...

PennDOT has spent $60,000 to create large green road signs telling motorists that funding was secured by the federal stimulus package. Agency spokesman Eric Waters said the signs will be visible at 30 projects across the state. The signs will cost about $2,000 each. "We received $1 billion for roads and bridge projects; not all of the 242 projects will have signs," he said

Using just a person's birth date and birth state, two Carnegie Mellon University researchers say they've found a way to figure out people's Social Security numbers, potentially opening a new front in the battle against identity theft. Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross said they hope their findings, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

A district judge who held another ACORN worker for trial Monday on election law violations urged prosecutors to go after the real culprit, the organization that employed him. "Somebody has to go after ACORN," Senior District Judge Richard H. Zoller said about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "It's happening all over the country. All you have to do is turn on the television," he said, referring to voter registration fraud charges brought recently against ACORN and its workers in Nevada. "We will," Allegheny County Detective Robert F. Keenan promised as he wrapped up his testimony. A spokesman...

Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak stands on the precipice of not only taking on U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in a Democratic primary, but beating him. Numerous polls back up that scenario; the only thing that stands in the way is his "official" announcement. Without the announcment, Markos Moulitsas, editor of the left-leaning DailyKos.com political blog, said he can't raise money for Sestak. The Daily Kos was instrumental in the insurgent candidacy of Connecticut businessman Ned Lamont in the 2006 Democratic primary election against incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman. The blog began a netroots phenomenon that gave Lamont a legitimate resume, daily message...

The Merriam-Webster definition of "common sense" is pretty straightforward: "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." The phrase originated in 1726 — 50 years before Thomas Paine penned his pamphlet, "Common Sense," and gave voice to the rising sentiments of American colonists before the Revolutionary War. Glenn Beck, Fox News commentator and host of a talk show on TV and radio, thought perhaps it was time for America to have a little more Paine — which is why he penned a 21st century version of the "Common Sense" pamphlet.