Free Republic

The Jewish Congressman who became the darling of the left wing of the Democratic party but not so much with his district (he served only one term), who, in 2009, defined the Republican’s idea of health care plan as, “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly,” may require some serious health care himself. According to WESH-TV2, last Saturday in Orlando, Fla., the former Florida Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson ran a red light with his car, a Mercedes (now, is that a car a nice Jewish boy should be driving?) and smashed into a public transit bus....

Tough guy John Gotti wasn't going to fight America's war in Vietnam. The late Gambino mob boss was just a young hood when drafted in 1963, and after failing to appear for induction the draft dodger was found two years later as reported by Danny Fenster for Tickle The Wire: "Gotti told authorities he was unaware of the draft status. He reported to the selective service board the next day, but was never inducted into the armed forces due to his criminal record." Of course, mobsters never have been a patriotic bunch. For example, in 1945 Genovese mobster Paul "Lefty"...

Herman Cain indicated today that he does not agree with Newt Gingrich’s position on immigration. “The way I would deal with those that are already here, which has been my stated position: empower the states to deal with the illegals that are already here, not some, big, grandiose, national one size fit-all. I believe that the states should be empowered to deal with the illegals that are already here,” Cain said CNN’s State of the Union this morning. In response to whether that meant the states could allow illegal immigrants to “be put on a path toward legalization and toward...

Former President George W. Bush was happily stunned when legendary former heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali stood facing him. Bush was at a Barnes & Noble Booksellers store in Phoenix today signing his book, Decision Points when the Greatest entered (with the Secret Service) to shake hands. With his famous comic humor, Ali sat next to Bush and held the book up as press and public snapped photos.

Former President Bill Clinton urged President Barack Obama to consider appointing someone to the Supreme Court who comes from political life, but said both he and his wife, the secretary of state, were too old for the job. Several senators have also urged the White House to look at candidates outside the judiciary to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Political figures used to be well represented on the high court, but all nine justices serving now came from the federal appeals bench. Nominees from such a background are seen as easier to confirm and as more predictable once they...

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen has graced countless magazine covers, from Time to Rolling Stone. But today, on his 60th birthday, he has turned up in a place many of his fans would never have imagined: the cover of AARP The Magazine. The AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) is not exactly the place we’d associate with a rock icon. But editor Nancy Perry Graham said Mr. Springsteen’s landmark birthday was an ideal time to feature him. “We put Bruce on the cover first and foremost because he was turning 60,” she said. “Like the rest of America,...

Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zant perform during the halftime show of Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, February 1, 2009

Springsteen's Homage to Pete Seeger By Tom Moon World Cafe, April 25, 2006 - On the new collection We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Bruce Springsteen honors the folk music tradition that has inspired many of his own compositions over the years. All the tracks on the new album are standards closely associated with folk icon Pete Seeger. Springsteen assembled large ensemble of acoustic musicians to flavor the proceedings with everything from accordion to tuba. Rock critic Tom Moon talks with host David Dye about why he reacted so strongly and positively towards this latest offering by The Boss. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5360791...

Bruce Springsteen now says he shouldn’t have made a deal to sell his greatest hits CD exclusively at Wal-Mart. Fans criticized The Boss because Wal-Mart has been accused of unfair labor practices. Springsteen, on the other hand, has always supported workers’ rights. “It was a mistake,” Springsteen said. “Our...

In an interview with The New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest-hits CD. Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker's rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices. Springsteen's team didn't vet the issue as closely as it should have, and that he "dropped the ball on it," he told the Times for a story to be published in Sunday editions and previewed on its Web site.

Will talk about charity work and "First Dude".

BLUFFTON, S.C. (AP) -- Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday he wouldn't try to change laws that make citizens of children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants, noting that it's a matter determined by the Constitution. "That's a very delicate balance that's been arrived at, and I wouldn't change that," Giuliani said in response to a question while campaigning at Sun City Hilton Head, a sprawling retirement community down the South Carolina coast from Charleston.

CONCORD, N.H. - Mitt Romney took the symbolic, time-honored step yesterday of filing his official papers to put his name on the primary ballot in New Hampshire, a state that will play a huge role in his presidential ambitions. Alerts Romney told reporters he was "thrilled to be sitting in the seat my father sat in some 40-odd years ago," referring to George Romney, who unsuccessfully contested the 1968 GOP presidential nomination. "I intend to follow his footsteps to a point," Romney said. "And the point is that I plan on winning the campaign." Romney, the governor of neighboring Massachusetts...

On the presidential campaign trail, Mitt Romney points to healthcare reform as his major achievement as Massachusetts governor, presenting the plan as an example of how he used conservative principles to provide affordable health insurance for all state residents without a government takeover. But he does not mention aspects of the plan that may hold less appeal for his Republican audiences. For example, he decries "socialized medicine" and says the Massachusetts plan is "all a private initiative, a private-based, market-based healthcare" -- omitting the fact that the state and federal governments subsidize much of the overall cost and that a...

Mitt Romney has gingerly picked up the challenge that was laid down to all the Republican presidential candidates recently by Newt Gingrich. In a weekend speech in Michigan, Romney sounded a message of change, telling Republicans they must clean up their own house before they can expect to win back public confidence. Gingrich believes Republicans will lose the White House next year unless the party's presidential nominee makes a clean break with President Bush and the state of affairs in Washington. Romney's speech -- buttressed by modest newspaper and television advertising -- marked the first attempt to rally support by...

Republican rivals Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson skirmished yesterday over a website attacking Thompson that was created by the business partner of a Romney consultant from South Carolina. While Romney's campaign tried to distance itself from the website, a spokesman for Thompson called on Romney to fire the consultant and to issue an apology for what he called "high-tech gutter politics." The website, PhoneyFred.org, made unflattering characterizations of the new entrant into the Republican nomination race, calling him "Playboy Fred," "Trial Lawyer Fred," and "Moron Fred," among other monikers. It was created by Wesley Donehue, a business partner of Warren...

SALEM, N.H. - Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in an interview Monday dismissed concerns he's too nice to be a viable candidate in a vicious race, proving it by taking a swipe at yet-to-announced GOP rival Fred Thompson. "We all get the chance to go on the talk shows. But it's not the sort of questions you get in the debates or the town meetings that I've had," Romney said in an Associated Press interview, alluding to plans by Thompson to formally announced his candidacy during a planned Wednesday night appearance on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "The talk show...

Romney concedes Iraq "a mess," describes three-step plan Confronted by an unhappy questioner, Mitt Romney said tonight at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire that the situation in Iraq "is a mess." [Video courtesy Breitbart.tv.] Romney's assessment was delivered by way of agreeing with a gentleman who stood up at a Nashua VFW post and complained that the conflict is "an unmitigated mess." "What I'd like to know is, what, if you get elected, precisely what would you do?" asked the unidentified citizen at an event carried lived by C-SPAN. "Ok, well first of all, it is a mess,"...

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told breast cancer survivors Tuesday that their disease "is getting less than a fair shake" when it comes to research funding. Romney, a former governor who made health care reform his signature issue in Massachusetts, suggested that as president he would increase federal spending on research of breast cancer and other cancers. "There's no substitute for funding," he said

Mitt Romney has five strapping sons, and not one of them has ever served in the military. When asked about this in Bettendorf, Iowa, the Republican presidential hopeful said that "one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected." He noted that his boy Josh had driven a Winnebago to all of Iowa's 99 counties — all 99 of them! There's been a lot of back-and-forth over this tactless comment. Jim Geraghty wrote on National Review Online that he's "tired" of the "chickenhawk line of attack." These are the accusations, usually...