Free Republic

It is protest day, for the Left and the Right, on Capitol Hill. First out of the gate - 9 Protesters backing a universal health care system briefly occupied Sen. Joe Lieberman's office this morning. Protesters were arrested, one by one, and dragged out of his office amid chants of "Everyone in and noone out, universal healthcare now!" and "Represent Connecticut, not AETNA!"

Gun Control: The Supreme Court agrees to decide if the Second Amendment applies to all of us, or just Washington, D.C. Why would the Founders put in the Bill of Rights something applying only to a federal enclave? In a 5-4 decision last year written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court overturned a draconian District of Columbia gun ban enacted 32 years ago that barred private ownership of handguns at all. Scalia wrote that an individual's right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted. The court ruled that...

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

WINCHESTER, VA--“Government did us in,” says Dwayne Madigan, whose job will terminate when General Electric closes its factory next July. Madigan makes a product that will soon be illegal to sell in the U.S. - a regular incandescent bulb. Two years ago, his employer, GE, lobbied in favor of the law that will outlaw the bulbs. Madigan’s colleagues, waiting for their evening shift to begin, all know that GE is replacing the incandescents for now with compact fluorescents bulbs, which GE manufactures in China. Last month, GE announced it will close the Winchester Bulb Plant 80 miles west of D.C....

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, following through on promises to dismiss teachers deemed ineffective, has fired about 250 tenured and novice instructors this week for poor performance or failure to obtain a license, union officials said yesterday.... The dismissal of 80 tenured teachers is a landmark of sorts for the school system, which historically has fired only a handful of instructors each year for poor performance. ...

With the Capitol dome as a backdrop, Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and a large group of pastors in town for a national conference, joined House Republicans for a press conference Thursday to announce legislation in opposition to the recent decision by the D.C. City Council to recognize same-sex marriages from states where the practice is legal. The D.C. Defense of Marriage Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.), states “that in the District of Columbia, for all legal purposes, ‘marriage’ means the union of one man and one woman.” “The...

The arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich in December cast a shadowy light on the relationships among four leading players in the Illinois Democratic Party—Blagojevich, Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, and David Axelrod. The new president and his two aides would like to minimize their dealings with the disgraced ex-governor. But the record tells a more complex story By David Bernstein (page 1 of 4) In the days following his arrest on corruption charges last December 9th, Governor Rod Blagojevich did his best to appear busy. He visited his 16th-floor suite at the Thompson Center, once even showing up in a jogging...

It's been said that conservatism has different meanings for different people. It may not be textbook, but without a whole lot of navel gazing, here's what it means to me and what Free Republic is all about: In a word, Freedom! In two words, Preserving Freedom. In a handful of words as stated by our Founding Fathers, to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity! America was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal by God and that our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are granted directly by God...

Do not believe the nattering nabobs of negativity. The Nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt was a huge success!! What we need now is MORE and LOUDER!! Obama has no clue. Being confronted by millions of fed-up citizens is new to him. He never expected the otherwise docile American people to rise up against his wannabe Marxist/fascist totalitarian regime. He's now lashing out at us through the Dept of Homeland Security as if We the People are his enemy. Well, we are! And he now knows it. And he's scared witless!! And the media has been reduced to the speechless,...

Congratulations FReepers and Patriots! According to Henchster's ongoing tallies, we've surpassed 750,000 participants in our nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt! Woo hoo!! All 50 states fully engaged! Over 600 cities represented and reports still coming in! Huge turnout, huge SUCCESS!! Elected officials take note: DO NOT TREAD ON ME!! Tyranny, usurpation, corruption, overreaching, big spending, high taxing will no longer be tolerated! We the people are FED-UP and we're not going to take it anymore! Ignore us at your own peril! All Congressional seats, all elected offices throughout the land at risk! Revolution is in the air!!

If the Obama administration has taken flak for suggesting that conservative groups might be home to domestic terrorists, it looks like some House Democrat leaders are willing to go even further: But in an interview on Fox TV in San Francisco, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chalked up the GOP grass-roots effort as “AstroTurf.” “This initiative is funded by the high end; we call it AstroTurf, it's not really a grass-roots movement. It's AstroTurf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class,” Pelosi said....

After the 2010 census has been held, the number of seats held by each state in the U.S. House of Representatives will change. The National Conference of State Legislatures recently estimated what the 2010 reapportionment will mean for each state. Eight states are expected to lose one seat each, in the U.S. House and in the Electoral College. They are Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. States that will gain will be Texas (3 seats), and one each for Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah. If the bill now pending in Congress to expand the...

We cheer the reddest. We corn the hardest. And, apparently, we grin the widest. Because Nebraska is the happiest state in the U.S., a new study says. The survey — conducted by personal finance Web site MainStreet.com — ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia from fiscally happiest to saddest based on a few factors of economic well-being. These included foreclosure numbers, unemployment rates and the ratio of average debt to average annual income. “It reflects the attitude of this state,” said Gov. Dave Heineman. “We are a positive people with a can-do attitude who are focused on...

Are you ready for a FReepathon!!? Well, it's a new quarter and a new president and he's everything we knew he would be. In less than 90 days he's managed to take an economic downturn and turn it into an unmitigated disaster for good old American capitalism. Never let a good crisis go to waste! The government is now printing money as fast as they can run the presses. Our federal budget is doubling and tripling and the Fed is running with no controls or oversight whatsoever from the congress, pumping trillions more into the "economy." The government now spends...

The newspaper industry is turning upside down. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle are among the papers that have ceased daily publication or announced in recent months that they may have to stop publishing. Not long ago, Tribune Co., owner of the Baltimore Sun, filed for bankruptcy. None of this bodes well for our democracy. Our country depends on an open and free press to monitor what happens in our communities so that Americans can make sound judgments about their lives and leaders. Thomas Jefferson, a man who was frequently vilified...

Late last week, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, called for a hearing to investigate ACORN. You read that right. At a Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties subcommittee hearing entitled “Lessons Learned from the 2008 Election” last Thursday, witness testimony not only drew Conyers to the subcommittee hearing but events led to Conyers strongly urging that subcommittee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) conduct a full hearing on ACORN, calling allegations made at the hearing “serious.” The shocking testimony that began the chain of events came from Pennsylvania attorney Heather Heidelbaugh, who in October of...

District of Columbia when it became the nation's capital two centuries ago would be granted under legislation the Senate passed Thursday. Congress is "moving to right a centuries-old wrong," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shortly before the 61-37 vote. The House is expected to pass the measure with a strong majority next week and President Barack Obama, a co-sponsor when the bill failed to clear the Senate two years ago, has promised to sign it. The measure is likely to face a court challenge immediately after becoming law; opponents argue that it is unconstitutional because D.C. is not a...

D.C. liberals refuse to follow the Supreme Court's ruling and are so lawless and out of control that the Democrats in Congress have decided that that District officials may be unfit to make their own gun laws.

WASHINGTON -- A 13-year-old boy was killed, seven people shot and a person stabbed within minutes of each other in a spate of violence in the Trinidad section of NE shortly after midnight Saturday. Police said between midnight and four in the morning a person was also stabbed and another shot citywide. DC Police Inspector Rodney Parks says the shootings appear to have taken place in connection with three attempted robberies. Police are looking for a gold or metallic colored car, possibly a Dodge Intrepid, spotted at each crime scene. The police have no suspects in custody at this time....

For 30 years D.C. was ruled by liberals who thought they were better and smarter than the Founding Fathers. Justice Scalia told them otherwise, and D.C. residents are heading to the gun shops for some shiny new pistols. D.C. Officials are panicking.

Go to minute 2:40 through 4:59 on the link above. She also said that thugs "will have a jump on you". D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's comments are absurd and idiotic. Actually, "idiotic" is putting it mildly. This is an interview she did last evening with 630 WMAL, Washington, D.C.

The campaign's release speaks for itself: ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on District of Columbia v. Heller:"Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on District of Columbia v. Heller, a landmark case for all Americans who believe as I do that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. I am proud to have joined in an amicus brief to the Court calling for a ruling in keeping with the clear intent of our Founding Fathers, which ensures the Second Amendment rights of the residents of District of...

The real estate auction business is booming. Real Estate Disposition Corp is auctioning 2,000 homes in California and 575 in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. More states are coming up.

Gullyborg finally gives up on the wretched George W. Bush (for most of the reasons I did years ago) and decides he doesn’t want to see another Bush Kompassionate Klone - or worse - in the White House. So, he’s backing…well, who else? If this is the way a Republican administration responds to a constitutional challenge of the outright ban on handguns in our nation’s capital, then the time has come to remove the blinders and return to single issue voting. If the Second Amendment fails, all our other rights become meaningless. Our next President HAS to be one who...

Here is a remarkable development. Just twenty-five years ago, there was a strong consensus, among judges and academics, that the Second Amendment did not create an individual right. No federal court had invalidated a restriction on guns on Second Amendment grounds (ever). As recently as 1992, Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative Republican appointee, rejected the individual rights view in public. (For some details, see my TNR piece, "The Most Mysterious Right.") In a short period, the consensus has shattered. There is a strong possibility that the Supreme Court will accept a view that seemed utterly implausible in the relatively...

Three GW law professors have endorsed Republican candidate Fred Thompson's campaign for the presidency, joining the Lawyers for Fred coalition. Professors John Fitzgerald Duffy, Orin Kerr and Michael Abramowicz are members of the Law Professors Committee within the coalition. "Sen. Thompson is proud of his experience working as a federal prosecutor," said Darrel Ng, a spokesperson for the Friends of Fred Thompson campaign. "That's why he decided to form something like that (coalition), because of his background." Ng said that having endorsement groups for presidential candidates is an important part of the campaign process. "In campaigns you try to find...

Yesterday, Senator Fred Thompson issued a statement on the Supreme Court's decision to grant certiorari in the District of Columbia gun ban case. It reads, in part: I’ve always understood the Second Amendment to mean what it says – it guarantees a citizen the right to “keep and bear” firearms, and that’s why I’ve been supportive of the National Rifle Association’s efforts to have the DC law overturned. In general, lawful gun ownership is a pretty simple matter. The Founders established gun-owner rights so that citizens would possess and be able to exercise the universal right of self-defense. Guns enable...

In what may turn out to be the most important Second Amendment ruling since 1939’s hideously misinterpreted Miller - and maybe the most important ruling on the Amendment in American history, the Supreme Court has granted cert to Parker v. D.C. and will be taking up the case in this session. Natch, Glenn Reynolds has tonsalinks. My first take (I have to admit I’m shaking in my boots at the negative possibilities here, given that I thought the SCOTUS would dodge this one) is that the Court will find an individual right, but do so in such a way that...

Judge Rules for Bearded DC Firefighters By SARAH KARUSH – 21 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday struck down a requirement that firefighters in the District of Columbia be clean-shaven. A group of firefighters who wear beards for religious reasons first sued in 2001 to challenge the fire department's "grooming policy." That policy was replaced with a safety policy in 2005 that held that beards are not compatible with breathing units because they make it impossible to form a tight seal around the face. U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that the district did not meet...

Ranks Thin At GWU by: Malcolm A. Kline, August 31, 2007 Colleges and universities rarely teach cause and effect anymore and it shows. Consider: George Washington University’s drop in the U. S. News rankings on the heels of its student government wrist slap of its former president for the kind of behavior that drives Republican lawmakers out of office. “U. S. News and World Report ranked GW 54th in its annual listing of the nation’s top 100 undergraduate programs, a rank on par with the University’s decade-long, near-50 showing on the list,” Andrew Ramonas reported in a story posted on...

Much has changed since Ben's Chili Bowl opened nearly 50 years ago on a bustling D.C. strip known as America's Black Broadway for its thriving black-owned shops and theaters. Back then, the red-and-white diner was a popular hangout for black bankers, doctors and blue-collar workers who lived and worked along U Street in Northwest. Even jazz greats Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald could be found devouring chili half-smokes and milkshakes after performing at nearby clubs. Now, on some days, the crowd at the D.C. landmark is mostly white, reflecting a neighborhood metamorphosis that has brought in high-end condominiums and businesses...

<p>BREAKING NEWS -- Divided three-judge D.C. Circuit panel holds that the District of Columbia's gun control laws violate individuals' Second Amendment rights: You can access today's lengthy D.C. Circuit ruling at this link.</p> <p>To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia.</p>

Beneath the trendy Tabaq restaurant in the U Street corridor lies a hookah bar, a remaining legal refuge for smokers of a different kind. The District's smoking ban went into effect last week, snuffing out smokers in almost all the city's bars, restaurants and hotels. But for bars that feature the ancient Middle Eastern water pipe, known as a hookah or shisha pipe, along with cigar bars, the new law does not prohibit them from catering to tobacco loyalists. "I want to make sure if somebody wants to smoke, we can give them a place to do it," said Omer...

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak officials said Union Station in downtown Washington was evacuated due to some type of smoke condition. Officials said diesel locomotive smoke coming through the luggage room caused the precautionary evacuation just after 6 p.m. Fans were used to blow the smoke out of Union Station. The evacuation ended after about a half hour. Trains were delayed for 25 minutes during the evacuation, but regular service has resumed.

Fox News just broke with a "snippet" that a woman (who is in custody) tried to ingite a small explosive, according to Uniformed Secret Service and either place it or throw it at the White House. She was taken into custody.

Investigation Continues as Congressman Enters Mayo Clinic May 5, 2006 — Capitol Police have taken disciplinary action against a watch commander for the handling of Rep. Patrick Kennedy's car accident, acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher McGaffin said. Lou Cannon of of the Fraternal Order of Police for the District of Columbia said there are questions about whether Rep. Patrick Kennedy received special treatment. (ABC News) McGaffin said the incident was improperly delayed due to "poor judgment" on the part of police managers and that a field sobriety test should have been administered to Kennedy after his car hit a barrier...

Former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry was sentenced to three years probation Thursday in connection with charges that he failed to file federal or local tax returns for 2000. Barry pleaded guilty last October under an agreement reached with federal prosecutors which required him to acknowledge his failure to file returns for the years 1999 through 2004. Barry, 70, completed his fourth term as mayor in early 1999. While Barry has said he's unsure how much money he earned during the time period in question, he did not challenge claims by federal prosecutors that his income topped $534,000 during...

How did the District of Columbia come by it's name and why was it made the Nation's Capitol? This was a question posed to me and I have to admit it stumped me. I'm sure a freeper here can enlighten me.

PARLIAMENTARIANS gathered in Washington this holiday weekend from Europe and North America arrived just in time to witness the U.S. House of Representatives -- on the eve of the anniversary commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence -- trample upon the right of self-determination. Morphing themselves into city council members, a House majority overturned a city law and voted to allow D.C. residents to keep in their homes loaded shotguns and rifles, as well as handguns bought before 1976, unbounded by trigger locks or disassembled. The deed itself makes a mockery of Congress as a federal body. If the...

Our nation's capitol is preparing for George W. Bush's inauguration next week, and here's a few photos [taken 12 Jan; "washington, dc (pre-inauguration)" album]. As I strolled around town surrounding the White House, workers were busy building the infrastructure for next week's highly-anticipated festivities (kick-off scheduled for Wed, 4pm). Friends, it looks fantastic! Security is definately tight, restricting pedestrian & vehicle travel around the White House and other government buildings. [Kudos to our brave and vigilant young men/women protecting our freedoms!!] While these shots aren't as close as those I've previously taken and shared with y'all, I hope to catch...

Fortunately, Thomas Jefferson can't see the ugly concrete barriers and metal fences impinging on his monument; he is facing the other way, across the Tidal Basin. The barriers were shoved into place about two years ago, closing off the Jefferson Memorial parking lot. Now, as Spencer S. Hsu recently reported in The Post, the National Park Service is proposing to make the closure permanent and to add new barricades around the Lincoln Memorial, too.

Take Them Out to the Ballgame By David S. Broder Wednesday, December 22, 2004; Page A27 Normally, any time that President Bush holds one of his rare, full-length news conferences, that's the top news event of the day. But on Monday, Bush's answers on Iraq, Social Security and other topics were overshadowed by the 12-minute "summit" meeting between D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp. Their topic was the future of major league baseball in the nation's capital. And my purpose is to explain to you why this is a matter of national import, not just of...

Mary Frances Berry, chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, is resigning. Those scratch marks on the floor may be from her fingernails as they dragged her from the building by her feet. Berry has been a member of the commission for 24 of its 47 years -- a record probably unmatched even in Washington, D.C., a city of sinecures.

Washington, D.C. homeowners shouldn’t expect to lock and load anytime soon as an effort to repeal a nearly 30-year ban on handgun ownership (search) in the district has hit a snag despite Republican gains in the U.S. Senate that might draw more gun-friendly lawmakers to Capitol Hill. "It still has an improved chance," said Dan Whiting, spokesman for Republican Sen. Larry Craig (search) of Idaho, who had co-sponsored legislation to repeal the gun ban and had hoped to attach the measure to the 2005 D.C appropriations bill. But opponents of the gun ban say D.C. residents are wary of turning...

WASHINGTON - About four miles east of the U.S. Capitol, in an industrial section of town, sits a gas station that looks like any other. But it's not, because on Wednesday it became the first in North America to have a hydrogen dispensing pump. Shell executives, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (news - web sites) and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams unveiled the technology, which the Bush administration hopes will help reduce the country's dependence on imported oil. "This will be, in fact, the first step toward the real transition in the economy from the carbon-based economies of the...

District of Columbia Democratic Presidential Primary Updated 1/13/04 9:20 PM ET 68% Precincts Reporting Incumbent* declared winner Candidates Votes % Howard Dean 7,586 42 Al Sharpton 6,254 35 Carol Moseley Braun 2,092 12 Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich 1,465 8 Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. 220 1 Arthur H. Jackson Jr. 109 1 Florence Walker 104 1 Vermin Supreme 56 0 Harry Braun III 29 0 Jeanne Chebib 18 0 Lucian Wojciechowski 11 0 Source: AP EDITOR'S NOTE: Primary results are only advisory. Official allocation of D.C.'s 16 pledged delegates to the National Democratic Convention occurs during the D.C. Democratic Caucus on...

A book written with truth, wisdom and insight shouldn't be revolutionary.  Unfortunately, reporting facts about black America can be downright subversive.  In his new book, , Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson ("the other Jesse") tells it like it is.  He is the founder and president of the successful non-profit  (BOND), whose purpose is "rebuilding the family by rebuilding the man".Rarely do I come across writing as brutally honest as my own when dealing with the black community.  Liberals in general won't like it, liberal blacks in particular will hate it, and conservatives will wonder what took so long.  SCAM is a...

October 25, 2003 Out of the Mainstream, Again f the many unworthy judicial nominees President Bush has put forward, Janice Rogers Brown is among the very worst. As an archconservative justice on the California Supreme Court, she has declared war on the mainstream legal values that most Americans hold dear. And she has let ideology be her guide in deciding cases. At her confirmation hearing this week, Justice Brown only ratified her critics' worst fears. Both Republican and Democratic senators should oppose her confirmation. Justice Brown, who has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the...

HALL OF SHAME [Ramesh Ponnuru] The House Republicans who voted against school choice for D.C.: Judy Biggert, Sherry Boehlert, Richard Burr, Phil English, Tim Johnson, Jim Leach, Frank LoBiondo, John McHugh, Bob Ney, Tom Osborne, Ron Paul, Todd Platts, Jim Ramstad, Jim Saxton, and Rob Simmons. The normal excuse for Republican sell-outs on school choice--the fear it inspires among their suburban constituents--don't apply here, since this is a project limited to the District. A few of these guys have sincere objections to vouchers, misguided though I think they are: Rep. Paul fits in ths category. Most of them are just...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean secured the endorsement of six members of the District of Columbia Council Tuesday, support that could boost his candidacy in the city's nonbinding primary in January. The former Vermont governor said a win in the majority-black district's Jan. 13 primary could quiet criticism that his campaign lacks ethnic diversity. The results of that contest will be a factor when the district formally chooses its delegates Feb. 14. Dean used the appearance with the six council members to express his support for full congressional voting rights for the district's 573,000 residents. The district...