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CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich told a South Carolina town hall on Monday that as president he would block federal funds to any city that "declared itself a sanctuary" for illegal immigrants. Gingrich, fresh from a key endorsement from an influential New Hampshire newspaper, is on a three-day swing through South Carolina, an early primary state that his campaign has dubbed his "southern firewall." "No American president has the right to side with foreigners," Gingrich told a crowd of hundreds at the College of Charleston, after reciting a list of 16 countries that he said...

U.S. President Barack Obama was set to release Jonathan Pollard but his vice president thwarted the move, The New York Times has reported. According to the report, Vice President Joe Biden met last week with 15 rabbis in Boca Raton, Florida, when he was asked by one of them why Pollard, who was convicted in 1986, was still in prison. In response to the question Biden said, “President Obama was considering clemency, but I told him, ‘Over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time.’” He added, “If it were up to me, he would...

A video is being widely circulated showing a shirtless boy receiving secondary screening from a Transportation Security Officer (TSO). A passenger filmed the screening with their cell phone and posted the video on the web. Many are coming to their own conclusions about what's happening in the video which is now perched at the top of the Drudge report and being linked to in many other blogs and tweets. We looked into this to find out what happened. On November 19, a family was traveling through a TSA checkpoint at the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). Their son alarmed...

A Sestak Offer? Criminally Stupid, Not CriminalBy Michael Grunwald Thursday, May. 27, 2010 If it's true that the White House offered Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak a job to try to clear the Democratic Senate primary for incumbent Arlen Specter, that's disturbing. But not because anyone is "participating in the cover-up of a possible crime." This doesn't sound like a "potentially devastating accusation of political corruption," much less an "impeachable offense," no matter what nonsense Michael Steele or Sean Hannity are peddling. Republicans may be calling for a special prosecutor, and even Democratic Senator Dick Durbin wants to know what happened....

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial ex-pastor, threw a hissy fit in a letter to an African aid group, claiming that the president "threw me under the bus" and the White House views him as "toxic." In a missive obtained by the Associated Press, Wright told Africa 6000 International that the Obama administration would likely ignore his efforts to release frozen funds for use in earthquake-stricken Haiti. "No one in the Obama administration will respond to me, listen to me, talk to me or read anything that I write to them. I am 'toxic' in terms of the Obama...

US admiral defends Obama's Japan bow (AFP) – 1 day ago WASHINGTON — The former top commander of US troops in Asia on Thursday strongly defended President Barack Obama against critics of his bow to Japan's Emperor Akihito, calling it a gesture of respect. Admiral Timothy Keating, who retired last month ...

President Obama stopped short of an apology to Sgt. James Crowley on Friday for saying he "acted stupidly" for arresting black Harvard scholar Henry Lewis Gates Jr., but said he should have chosen his words more carefully. At an impromptu appearance at the daily White House briefing, Obama said he spoke with Crowley over the phone, and said he wanted to share a beer with Crowley and Gates at the White House. "Because this has been ratcheting up and I helped contribute to ratcheting it up, I want to make clear that in my choice of words I unfortunately gave...

Florida Republican leaders hastily convened a top secret meeting this week to grapple with Sen. John McCain's sagging performance in this must-win state. Their fears were confirmed Wednesday when four new polls showed Sen. Barack Obama leading, a reversal from just a few weeks ago when McCain was opening up an advantage.... One of the concerns has been the relationship between grass roots volunteers across the state and far fewer paid campaign staffers. Complaints range from not getting yard signs quickly enough to knowing who will speak at events and overall manpower coordination.... McCain supporter and former Republican Party of...

CNN story. Apparently Obama sent a letter to his pastor but that has yet to be released.

The presidential contenders have had their share of supporters whose insensitive remarks forced the campaigns to issue disavowals. This week, it was Barack Obama’s turn. After a series of recorded sermons by Obama’s longtime pastor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. sparked controversy over Wright’s fiery views on race, America and the Sept. 11 attacks, Obama responded Friday by firmly repudiating Wrights’ views in lengthy written statement and a round of cable news interviews. The question is whether Obama’s response worked, or whether his connection to Wright will haunt the Democratic senator’s campaign and dampen his presidential hopes. In an interview...

Doctor Raoul learned this afternoon that the Berzerkistan (aka Berkeley) Chamber of Commerce is going to place a large thumb in the eye of the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Marxist Code Pink groups tomorrow, at the Chamber's annual Crab Feast fundraiser, by honoring the USMC recruiter in charge of the Berkeley recruiting center that has been targeted by these radical groups. On the Berkeley Chamber website it is evident that Chamber members and leaders are not at all happy with the City government's actions against our military: The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce supports the men and women of our...

(CNN) — Republican Fred Thompson has long faced criticism he lacks motivation to be President of the United States, but the Tennessee Republican's latest comments Saturday are likely to spawn fresh heat. “I’m not particularly interested in running for president," the former senator said at a campaign event in Burlington when challenged by a voter over his desire to be commander-in-chief. “But I think I’d make a good president," Thompson continued. "I have the background, capability, and concern to do this and I’m doing it for the right reasons.” Thompson took heat for not jumping into the White House race...

At first, the story line went like this: Sen. Hillary Clinton may have committed the ultimate political culinary sin -- not tipping the waitress. But the story was wrong: NPR has retracted its initial report, a nasty little anecdote about iClnton meeting a working-mom waitress at the Maid-Rite eatery in Iowa over the summer, using her story in a speech -- and then stiffing her on the tip. Now NPR has confirmed the tip with an editor's note: "Since this story aired, Hillary Clinton's campaign contacted NPR to say that the campaign paid Maid-Rite a bill for $100 for food...

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's biggest phone company has apologized after a punk-rock reference to the Holocaust appeared on billboard advertisements for its cellphones. The ads for Bell Canada's Solo discount service showed a young woman decked out in flashy punk rock attire, with a button that reads "Belsen was a gas" -- the controversial title of a song by the Sex Pistols, and a reference to Nazi Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. "It was inadvertent," Bell Canada spokesman Mark Langton said on Friday, noting that the dozen ads were taken down as soon as the company realized its mistake. "Obviously, we...

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A top Democratic fundraiser wanted as a fugitive in California turned himself in Friday to face a grand theft charge. A judge in San Mateo County Superior Court ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and held on $2 million bond. A bail hearing was scheduled for Sept. 5, at which the judge will consider reducing his bail to $1 million. Hsu appeared in court here Friday following reports that he had skipped his sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge. In the ensuing years, he became a top donor to numerous Democratic candidates, including presidential contenders Hillary Rodham...

How could the senator's campaign have missed the red flags over Hsu? As Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu confronted an old criminal case and faced a new FBI investigation Friday, a fundamental question persisted: How did Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign fail to see the red flags in Hsu's contributions? Until this week, Clinton counted Hsu as one of her most prolific money bundlers. He gave her campaign $22,300, regularly appeared as a co-host for major fundraising lunches and dinners, and raised more than $100,000 from his friends for her presidential run. Obviously, we were all surprised by...

A new bout of food scare has gripped the United States, with the US Food and Drug Administration urging people to throw away more than 90 different products, made at a Castleberry's Food Co plant, from chili sauce to corned beef hash to dog food, for fears that they are causing botulism, a muscle-paralyzing disease. Seven cases of botulism have so far been reported. Most victims consumed a hot dog chili sauce made at the company's plant in Georgia that has been temporarily closed. The recall has been expanded to Canada as well. Castleberry is owned by Bumble Bee Foods,...

China Struggles to Repair Image Friday July 13, 2:13 pm ET By Joe Mcdonald, AP Business Writer China Launches Image Campaign After Safety Scandals BEIJING (AP) -- Stung by product safety scandals, Beijing is waging its own version of a corporate public relations campaign to repair China's battered brand name, an effort punctuated by the execution of a corrupt former drug regulator. This week, Beijing's propaganda machine trumpeted decisions to tighten standards for toothpaste makers and food processors and to create a symbol to attach to food exports that pass quality inspections. But can Beijing restore consumer trust after a...

CHAMBLISS: GEORGIANS HAVE SPOKEN, DEMAND BORDER SECURITY FIRST June 28, 2007 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today made the following statement regarding defeat of the immigration reform bill being considered by the U.S. Senate. Chambliss voted “no” on a procedural motion requiring 60 votes to cut off debate on the bill. The motion failed by a vote of 46-53. A lot of people have asked me why I became involved in this process initially, and there is a very simple answer: folks in Georgia sent me to Washington to engage in the issues that are important to America,...

"Despite recent statements across the country by Governor Mitt Romney claiming he’s pro-life, pro-family and a committed conservative, a broad investigation of his actual statements, actions, and public positions over the years indicates that he has spent his entire career speaking and governing as a liberal – and that his new found conversion to conservatism very likely coincides with his candidacy for the presidency." Please refer to comment #1 to see what a shoddy piece of work this is. If they are trying to convince people of something, they should at least get SOME of the facts right and not...

DES MOINES, Iowa A Democratic Congressional candidate from Iowa is canceling a campaign event later this week with Senator John Kerry. Brucy Braley says Kerry's recent comments about the Iraq war were inappropriate. Braley's decision to distance himself from Kerry came as a furor grew from comments Kerry made about the Iraq War during a campaign stop in California on Monday.

The Corner is reporting that John Kerry will hold a news conference at 2PM to discuss his recent comment.

WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has become a “cause célèbre” for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that probably will get worse before it gets better, federal intelligence analysts conclude in a report at odds with President Bush’s contention of a world growing safer. In the bleak report, declassified and released Tuesday on Bush’s orders, the nation’s most veteran analysts conclude that despite serious damage to the leadership of al-Qaida, the threat from Islamic extremists has spread both in numbers and in geographic reach. ----------------------- Virtually all assessments of the current situation were bad news. The report’s...

<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>

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two of President Bush's staunchest domestic critics leapt to his defense Thursday, a day after one of his fiercest foreign foes called him "the devil" in a scorching speech before the United Nations. "You don't come into my country; you don't come into my congressional district and you don't condemn my president," Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, scolded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, was blunt in her criticism of the Venezuelan leader. "He is an everyday thug," she said. (Watch Rangel rip Chavez -- 1:28 ) Chavez kept up his criticism of...

The Washington Post today follows up the Times frontpager on the Clinton marriage with a column by veteran political commentator David Broder, titled "The Shadow of a Marriage," in which Broder hints that Bill Clinton has a girlfriend. He does so in a passage that critiques the Times piece: It touched only lightly on the former president's friendship with Canadian politician Belinda Stronach. Then Broder says that the character of the Clinton marriage is the "elephant in the room" with Senator Clinton—and thus, fair game in the political process. I genuinely wish the Clintons luck on this one. I'm never...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Inaccurate (05/09/2006)Statement Today’s report by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, “U.S. tipping Mexico to Minuteman patrols,” is inaccurate. Border Patrol does not report activity by civilian, non-law enforcement groups to the Government of Mexico. During a detention of a legal or illegal immigrant that produces an allegation of improper treatment, Border Patrol reports the allegation and allows the appropriate consulate to interview the individual in custody. This is consistent with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 that provides consular access to foreign nationals being detained by a foreign government. This is the same agreement...

WASHINGTON - In a meeting with members of Congress, President Bush said he needs to do a better job explaining his position on immigration changes, House Majority Leader Tom Delay said Wednesday."He admitted he hasn't done a very good job in being clear to the American people where he's coming from, and he's going to try to do better," said Delay, who attended the White House session where the president discussed his legislative agenda.

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is launching one of its biggest and costliest advertising campaigns ever - but don't expect the big splash to accompany a new product. Instead, the campaign premiering Monday is aimed at revitalizing consumer interest in Microsoft's dominant Windows operating system. A new version of Windows has not been released since Windows XP debuted nearly four years ago. And although Microsoft plans to launch a new version in late 2006, the company said Friday that this new campaign will not be geared toward that product, code-named Longhorn. Scott Lennard, director of advertising for Microsoft's consumer...

(CNSNews.com) - An organization that wants America to abandon the United Nations has produced a new television ad slamming the "bogus reforms" proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.Move America Forward said its new ad will start running on national cable news networks the first week in April. The group calls the proposed reforms another attempt to "whitewash" Kofi Annan's "mismanagement," and it said the recommendations "reek of anti-Americanism." As Cybercast News Service previously reported, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday asked the General Assembly to consider the most sweeping changes to the world body since its founding 60 years ago....

The liberal Primate of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, flew recently to London on short notice. The ostensible reason was to preach on Sept. 12 in St. Paul's cathedral. The more pressing reason was to confer with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, about the unwelcome sanctions the 77 million-member Anglican Communion seems poised to impose on the Episcopal Church. It is easy to understand why the bishop is worried. Ever since a majority of Episcopal bishops supported the ordination of an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire, the Anglican Communion (of which the Episcopal Church...

Matt Drudge just announced that CBS will admit, maybe as soon as tomorrow, that they were 'deceived' and are launching an intensive, in-depth investigation.

Thursday was a slightly better day for the Democrats in what has been another awful week for them. But of course that is not saying much. The Democrats wheeled out a new offensive against President George W. Bush in battleground states on his weakest issue: job losses and the anemic economy. But despite clear efforts to engage Bush on national-security issues and show their own credibility, they have yet to lay a hand on the president's standing as tough on terror after his surrogates have savaged their own standard-bearer, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Kerry's dilemma was clearly exposed when...

Kerry fights off attacks in swing states Democrat edges ahead in crucial election battleground Julian Borger in Washington Thursday August 26, 2004 The Guardian John Kerry has so far succeeded in fending off attacks on his Vietnam war record to stay level with George Bush in national popularity ratings - and ahead in most of the 20 swing states where the election will ultimately be decided, according to a poll published yesterday. The survey, by Zogby International, suggested that the president would go into next week's Republican convention in New York facing a serious challenge. Mr Kerry is leading in...

At the fund-raiser, Kerry defended his anti-war activism as "an act of conscience." "You can judge my character, incidentally, by that," Kerry said. "Because when the time for moral crisis existed in this country, I wasn't taking care of myself, I was taking care of public policy. I was taking care of things that made a difference to the life of this nation. You may not have agreed with me, but I stood up and was counted and that's the kind of president I'm going to be."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Democrat John Kerry (website - news - bio) defended his Vietnam War record Tuesday night from accusations that he didn't deserve his medals and invited voters to judge his 1970s anti-war activism as an indication of the "kind of president I'm going to be." Kerry, speaking at a fund-raiser that the campaign said raised $1.7 million for the Democratic Party, said criticism of his decorated service in Vietnam has "become so petty it's almost pathetic in a way." Kerry has been reaching out to fellow soldiers for help battling the fallout from a group of veterans who...

August 23, 2004 -- Democrat John Kerry's first TV ad defending himself against attacks from fellow Vietnam vets wasn't very effective, an independent nonpartisan advertising study has found. But it also found that a second TV ad by the anti-Kerry veterans — which blasts him for portraying fellow Vietnam vets as war criminals — wasn't as effective in zapping Kerry as the first ad, which challenges his image as a war hero.

The Kerry response to the Swift Vets for the Truth is that these charges area a baseless smear on Kerry. Kerry's handlers are going into WJClinton defense mode: Regardless of the accuracy of the charges, divert attention from them by attacking the accusers. That defense did not prevent Clinton from being Impeached, but it did keep him from being removed from office. I do not think this tactic can relied on in this case since the standard that needs to be met is a bit higher. Kerry is running for the approval of the American people, not the Senate.

As President Bush (search) stays in the background relaxing at his Texas ranch, the debate over claims by members of a veterans' group opposing Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (search) continues to rage. On Sunday, the Kerry campaign released a new ad accusing the president of backing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (search), which has released a series of spots calling into question Kerry's heroism during the Vietnam War. In the ad, the narrator claims that families are losing jobs and health care while "George Bush's campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry's military record." The ad calls...

Deeply worried that the swift boat veterans' ads are damaging John Kerry his media pals intensified their campaign to destroy the credibility of these veterans. On August 20 the New York Times struck back for Kerry by allocating a huge amount of space to the swift boat veterans. The article will now be used by the Democrats, who basically wrote it anyway, and the rest of mainstream media to attack the swift boat veterans and their allies. Nevertheless, it should be plain to honest observers that the article was nothing but a hit job by Kate Zernike and Jim Rutenberg,...

EAST HAMPTON, New York (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has accused his Republican critics of having launched their offensive against his Vietnam war record in a bid to sabotage what he called growing voter support for his strategy to fight the war on terror. Attending back-to-back fundraisers in ritzy beach communities outside New York City that raised $2 million for his White House bid late Saturday night, Kerry repeated his call for President George W. Bush to denounce the advertisements that seek to cast doubt on his Vietnam record. "We're at war," Kerry told supporters. "But this is...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry's campaign released a video Saturday comparing the controversy over Kerry's Vietnam service to attacks on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry's campaign released a video Saturday comparing the controversy over Kerry's Vietnam service to attacks on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries. The video, sent via e-mail to supporters, says, "George Bush is up to his old tricks" and shows then-Texas Gov. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain at a debate in February 2000. McCain, sitting next to Bush, says that when "fringe veterans groups" attacked him at a Bush campaign function, Bush stood by and didn't say a word. McCain says a group of senators wrote Bush a letter that said: "Apologize. You...

More Republican Ties Revealed Behind "Swift Boat Vets For Bush", Says Kerry Campaign 8/20/2004 5:45:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, 202-464-2800, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004 WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Public records reveal that two of the people in the new "Swift Boat Veterans for Bush" television ad are Republican activists, as the fact sheet below shows. This is just more proof that Bush's Republican allies are the ones behind this disgraceful smear of John Kerry's military record. It's pretty clear what's going on here. It's no wonder the Bush campaign refuses to...

WASHINGTON - Attacks on John Kerry (news - web sites)'s war record may be beginning to have an impact, polls suggest, amid raised voices and new TV ads on a subject at least temporarily dominating debate in the close presidential race. Democrats are laboring to deflect the questioning of Kerry's record with fresh ads touting his fitness for national command, even as the White House mocks the Massachusetts senator as "losing his cool" over claims he lied to win military medals in Vietnam. Kerry wasn't going to let such claims pass, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter shot back on Friday, saying "John...

For a newspaper that has ignored the Swift Vets, New York Times, they sure put a lot of time and effort into that graphic in the last weeks. How long was it in the making while nary a peep about the Swifties was in the Times?  

8/20/2004 5:16:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk, Political Reporter Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004, 202-464-2800; Web: http://www.johnkerry.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Kerry-Edwards campaign spokesman Chad Clanton released the following statement today about the new Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad: "This is another ad from a front group funded by Bush allies that is trying to smear John Kerry. The newest ad takes Kerry's testimony out of context, editing what he said to distort the facts. He testified as a 27 year-old Vietnam veteran. He opposed a war that, at that point, cost...

Kerry Aims to Counter Impact of Criticism By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent WASHINGTON - The Democratic Party launched a costly round of ads Friday to buttress John Kerry (news - web sites)'s credentials to be commander in chief as the White House accused the Massachusetts senator of "losing his cool" over attacks on his war record. "John Kerry is a fighter and he doesn't tolerate lies from others," shot back spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. The unusual late-August maneuvering highlighted the closeness of the race for the White House and came as polls offered the first hint that the questioning of...

The Democratic Party launched a costly round of ads Friday to buttress John Kerry's credentials to be commander in chief as the White House accused the Massachusetts senator of "losing his cool" over attacks on his war record. "John Kerry is a fighter and he doesn't tolerate lies from others," shot back spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. The unusual late-August maneuvering highlighted the closeness of the race for the White House and came as polls offered the first hint that the questioning of Kerry's medal-winning service in the Vietnam War -- allegations that he strongly condemned this week as lies -- were...

...........A CBS News poll out last night found Kerry has lost the 5-point lead he held last month, and the 2004 race is now a statistical tie with Kerry at 46 percent, Bush at 45 and Ralph Nader at 1. Kerry has lost support among independents, Catholics and, most dramatically, vets.