Free Republic

...That was the background for conservative John Fund's Wall Street Journal online column the day before Florida voted. Fund wrote that McCain "has told conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief Justice Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito because 'he wore his conservatism on his sleeve.' " In a conference call with bloggers that day, McCain said, "I don't recall a conversation where I would have said that." He was "astonished" by the Alito quote, he said, and he repeatedly says at town meetings, "We're...

(Dec. 25, 2006) -- The Week 17 Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears game on Sunday, Dec. 31, will now be played at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC, making it the final game of the 2006 regular season. The Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts games will move to 4:15 p.m. ET on CBS, and the Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles game will also move to 4:15 p.m. ET on FOX, the NFL announced.

Donovan Riley, a disgraced state Senate candidate, is paying a steep price for voting twice in the same election in 2000. Riley agreed on Thursday to pay a $10,000 fine, surrender his law licenses in Wisconsin and Illinois and not practice law. He must also return campaign contributions to supporters who request refunds in the next 30 days even if it means paying them from his personal funds. He has 45 days to meet those conditions. In exchange, the single count of election fraud, voting more than once, will be reduced to a misdemeanor. The deal, under which Riley avoids...

House Republicans picked John Boehner Friday to serve as minority leader when Democrats take control of Congress for the first time in 12 years in January. Boehner defeated Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana in a closed-door election among colleagues. The Ohio winner was expected to speak after elections for other leadership positions concluded. Boehner received 168 votes, Pence 27 and Rep. Joe Barton of Texas won 1 vote.

We're halfway through the Chase, and coming into the sole short track of the Chase season, here's how the standings look: 1. Jeff Burton - 5763 points 2. Matt Kenseth - 5718 (-45) 3. Kevin Harvick - 5674 (-89) 4. Mark Martin - 5661 (-102) 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 5657 (-106) 6. Denny Hamlin - 5626 (-137) 7. Jimmie Johnson - 5617 (-146) 8. Kasey Kahne - 5603 (-160) 9. Kyle Busch - 5568 (-195) 10. Jeff Gordon - 5547 (-216)

A lawyer for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign repeatedly lobbied three Democratic members of the State Elections Board before they voted with the majority to order Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green to divest $467,844 in donations from out-of-state political action committees, records show. Attorney Michael S. Maistelman bluntly told Democratic Party members of the board he contacted why they should publicly sanction or punish the Green campaign, according to documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel under the state's open records law. "Even if this ends up in Court it is a PR victory for us since it makes Green spend...

Milwaukee officials announced Saturday that after a three-day manual count of ballots, Tuesday's primary election brought 46,500 voters to the polls in Milwaukee, not 80,000 as the city previously reported. City Election Commission chief Susan Edman said the ward-by-ward review of turnout confirmed the city's suspicion that a computer programming error by her office caused the misreporting.... The earlier report of nearly 27% turnout had generated confusion because it suggested that tens of thousands of people showed up to vote but ignored or voted incorrectly in the top races on the ballot, including state attorney general and Milwaukee County district...

Casino gambling on American Indian reservations in Wisconsin will continue under a state Supreme Court decision released this morning. The court declined to curtail the Las Vegas-style gambling that is currently legal on land held by 11 tribes in Wisconsin. Those tribes operate 28 casinos. The widely anticipated ruling comes in the case of Dairyland Greyhound Park, a Kenosha dog track, which had argued that the Indian casinos were illegal because of a 1993 state constitutional amendment limiting gambling. That amendment clarifies that all types of gambling are prohibited in the state except bingo, raffles, pari-mutuel on-track betting and the...

It's the second half of the season, so TNT (and to a lesser extent, NBC) return to the TV mix. This half will be NBC's swan song for NASCAR and TNT's swan song for the Busch Series. We've got a full slate of racing this weekend, as the Busch boys and Buschwhackers run a 3/4ers race Saturday afternoon, and the Truck boys and girls run over at Kentucky Saturday night.

The Green Bay Packers are considering replacing the most prolific kicker in their history with one of the most prolific kickers of the last decade. New England free agent Adam Vinatieri, one of only two kickers in National Football League history to score 100 or more points in each of his first 10 seasons, is on the Packers' radar and is expected to make a visit soon. The NFL Network reported Tuesday that Vinatieri would visit the Packers this week, probably on Friday, to meet with team officials. Acquiring Vinatieri, the hero of two Super Bowl victories, won't come cheaply....

In picking Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, President Bush gave his right flank what it wanted: a true-blue conservative. The question now is: Is Bush giving the country what it needs? The nomination is troubling in that 1) it's liable to divide America rather than unite it, 2) it lessens the extent to which the court mirrors the nation's rich diversity and 3) Alito has taken worrisome stands on many issues. Still, Alito deserves the benefit of the doubt until he gets his day in court - or rather before the Senate Judiciary...

WASHINGTON - Reforming Social Security, a centerpiece of President Bush's second-term agenda, may be endangered because of Republican fears that the issue could hurt the party in the 2006 elections. On Thursday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested the head of the House Republican campaign committee spoke for himself when he urged fellow GOP leaders to drop plans for Social Security legislation this year, citing the potential repercussions next year's elections. “I think Tom Reynolds may have been talking about what his feelings are,” Hastert told reporters late Thursday. “Social Security is something very important. It’s something we’ve talked about doing,...

These 10 drivers have 10 races, starting with the Sylvania 300, to win the 2005 Nextel Cup - Tony Stewart (2002 Winston Cup champ)Greg BiffleRusty Wallace (1989 Winston Cup champ)Jimmie JohnsonKurt Busch (defending Nextel Cup champ)Mark MartinJeremy MayfieldCarl EdwardsMatt Kenseth (2003 Winston Cup champ)Ryan Newman They and 33 of their best friends will be running Sunday at Loudon, and the Craftsman Truck Series will be taking 200 laps around the track Saturday.

AP News Alert WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mike Brown says he has resigned as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Before Tuesday's cabinet meeting, President Bush told reporters that the short list of nominees to fill his second Supreme Court vacancy was wide open. With a smile toward the journalists present, he announced that he therefore welcomed wide media speculation, especially about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. What a kidder. And what a difference a devastating hurricane makes. Two months ago, the White House met speculation over the president's first pick with antagonism. The president himself moved to quell talk about his friend the attorney general in threatening tones. But the president knew his audience. Journalists are particularly eager over Gonzales...

On the same day Republicans sent a bill for a photo ID requirement to Gov. Jim Doyle for a third time, the state party sent evidence to investigators Tuesday that suggests at least nine people who voted in Milwaukee last November may have cast ballots in other cities, including Chicago and Minneapolis. At a Milwaukee news conference, party leaders - including the sponsors of the photo ID bill - said the findings of duplicate voters here and in other cities add a new urgency to reforms. They also called on investigators, who already have charged nine people with voter fraud...

(Milwaukee, WI)…The Republican Party of Wisconsin released the results of their investigation into new cases of fraudulent voting behavior at a press conference in front of 1680 N. Astor St, in Milwaukee, the site of a highly suspect case. The investigation strongly indicates double voting occurred during the November ’04 elections and that voter fraud has crossed state lines. In tandem with the findings, state legislators are messaging Senate Bill 42 today, a measure making it a requirement to show a photo ID at the polls, to Governor James E. Doyle. “The evidence of voter fraud in Milwaukee continues to...

While the Nextel Cup teams enjoy a weekend off, the Busch Series and Gateway International Raceway, just on the other side of the Mississippi from St. Louis, honors the Wallace racing family, Rusty, Kenny and Mike, with the Wallace Family Tribute 250.

Green Bay Packers wide reciever Javon Walker has decided to report to training camp. Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Silverstein met Walker at the Green Bay airport shortly after 5 this evening and asked whether he planned to continue his holdout. Walker initially said he had no comment, but when pressed, said, "Tell everybody I'm coming in." Asked if that meant he was going to report to training camp by 7 p.m., the deadline for veterans, he said yes.

This thread is dedicated to the men and women in our country's armed forces defending our freedoms and land. Thank you for your service. NASCAR's premier division has charged past the halfway point, and there's 8 races left until The Chase begins in earnest. Now they head to the heart of New England, where they and the drivers of the Busch series will take on the tight 1-mile track at Loudon. The Busch drivers will go on Saturday for 200 miles, and the Cup drivers will take 300 laps on Sunday. For those of you in the FRFL, you have...