Free Republic

Rick Santorum, the winner of Alabama's Republican presidential primary, hasn't released his 22 Alabama delegates to support another candidate, but delegates said they expect to unite behind Mitt Romney if he locks up the GOP nomination. ....Santorum won Alabama's GOP primary March 13, picking up 22 delegates, compared with 13 for Newt Gingrich and 12 for Romney. Even though Santorum has suspended his campaign, the rules of the Alabama Republican Party bind his delegates to him until he releases them. Dean participated in a conference call with Santorum on Monday, during which the former Pennsylvania senator told delegates he has...

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The chairman of Kent County's Republican Party says he's switching his support from Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich. Hans Reigle on Friday said he was throwing his support to the former House speaker because he "is the only candidate who has shown a willingness to meet and talk with Delaware voters for more than an hour."

Congress has learned the most wanted man in the Fast and Furious investigation, Manuel Acosta, was allowed to traffic thousands of guns to Mexico. Only after the death of Border Agent Brian Terry south of Tucson was Acosta's operation shut down. He was arrested and released at least three times during the operation. That's why congressional investigators suspect the justice department is unwilling to talk about Acosta's possible role as an informant. Rep. Jason Chaffetz said, "We could have taken him in and prosecuted him anything. It's either total incompetence or maybe it's something a bit more coordinated that the...

In a landmark ruling, a North Carolina judge vacated the death penalty Friday of a convicted murderer, saying prosecutors across the state had engaged for years in a deliberate and systematic pattern of racial discrimination while striking black potential jurors in death penalty cases. In a 167-page order harshly critical of prosecutors, Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks said they "intentionally used the race of (jury pool) members as a significant factor in decisions to exercise peremptory strikes in capital cases." He ruled that discrimination was a factor not only in the case Weeks heard involving convicted murderer Marcus Reymond Robinson,...

Levon Helm of The Band found an unlikely path back to fame after decades of disappointment. But by the end, the homespun singer from Turkey Scratch, Ark., had come full circle. In the eight years preceding his death Thursday, Levon Helm enjoyed the highest distinction that any music veteran could hope for: an audience that remembers. Two recent Grammy awards had brought a resurgence of interest in Mr. Helm’s career as the voice and drummer of The Band, one of rock’s most enduring groups. But it was only in 2004, when he began his homespun “Midnight Ramble” concerts, that he...

The office of the Los Angeles County coroner has completed its investigation into the death of Andrew Breitbart on March 1, and has confirmed that he died of natural causes, namely heart failure. Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey told Breitbart News that the final autopsy report would be released next week. A press release issued by the Department of Coroner (below) notes: "No prescription or illicit drugs were detected. The blood alcohol was .04%," a negligible amount. The press release concludes: "No significant trauma was present and foul play is not suspected."

The Newt Gingrich campaign found itself in a state of confusion Friday night when reports surfaced that Gingrich would cancel all of his stops in North Carolina next week, fueling suggestions that Gingrich would be suspending his campaign. But the campaign says nothing is happening. Two people close to the Gingrich campaign told ABC News they were contacted and told all of Gingrich’s North Carolina stops had been canceled, although R.C. Hammond, communications director for the campaign, said there was a “communication glitch.” “There was confusion, but we will maintain our North Carolina schedule next week,” Hammond said. One person...

Safeguards against tampering with election results are in place throughout the election process, but for Pennsylvania's absentee voters, a potential security breach exists. Printed on the envelope used to return completed absentee ballots is an "R" or "D," noting the voter's Republican or Democratic party affiliation. A person intent on influencing election results could weed out unopened ballots of one party. All they would need is access to the mails. That could happen in a college mail room or another origination point, at the post office, during delivery or when county mail is being sorted. The envelope marking is plain...

Washington, D.C. - Nevada Senator Harry Reid issued the following statement after Nevada’s unemployment rate dropped to 12 percent in March: “The decline in Nevada’s unemployment rate is encouraging. Our economy is slowly recovering, but too many Nevadans remain out of work, which is why we must remain focused on creating jobs. Earlier this month I met with Nevada business leaders to discuss ways to increase domestic and international tourism.  Our state is known for world class entertainment, and we can create jobs by making it easier for visitors to travel to Nevada.  We must also strengthen our infrastructure by...

A Pakistani passenger jet with 127 people on board crashed into wheat fields Friday as it was trying to land in a thunder storm at an airport near the capital Islamabad. Sobbing relatives of those on the flight flocked to the airport, and officials said there appeared to be no survivors. Emergency workers used flashlights to search among the smoldering wreckage of the fuselage, smashed seats and body parts for any sign of life at the crash site, which was just a few kilometers (miles) from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. One rescue official asked villagers to bring him sheets...

The Associated Press NEW YORK —Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich told Republicans at a New York state party dinner that he would work for Mitt Romney’s victory in the general election if Romney wins the nomination. “We are dedicated to a unified Republican Party,” he said. Speaking Thursday in New York City, Gingrich said he’s stayed in the race “to articulate big themes and big ideas” but that “we have a moral obligation to defeat Barack Obama.” To that end, he said, he would work to support Romney, and he said Romney would do the same for him. “Romney and I...

Fourth, Remember the Difference Between Republicans and Conservatives. Conservatives look at the endorsements Mitt Romney has garnered from such establishment figures as former President George H.W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and most importantly from business-as-usual Washington insiders, such as lobbyist Ed Gillespie, and they see advocates of positions they often opposed, not friends of the transformational agenda that won the Tea Party wave election of 2010. Surveying Romney’s record and agenda, and most importantly the people he is likely to bring to Washington to implement his agenda, movement conservatives see little likelihood a Romney administration will differ...

Newt Gingrich may not have got the memo but the battle for the Republican nomination is over. Some in the Romney campaign were hoping for a Febuary end but others were fearing it would go on until June and a small number of Republicans even predicted a convention fight in August. All in all, April is not a bad result for Mitt Romney - long enough to test him, short enough to allow him to focus solely on the general for the final six months. Despite the very recent and ugly and negative primaries, Romney's struggle with conservatives and the...

If Santorum's suspension of his campaign last week removed the drama from the GOP presidential race...

Dozens under arrest in China in connection with Bo Xilai scandal China has detained dozens people with connections to Bo Xilai, it was claimed as the Communist party pledged to "thoroughly investigate" the politician and his wife's alleged role in the death of British businessman Neil Heywood. By Malcolm Moore, Chongqing 5:40PM BST 18 Apr 2012 At least 39 people are thought to be being held, alongside Mr Bo, in the seaside town of Beidaihe, a favourite retreat for Communist party leaders. "The detainees include Xu Ming, who had a very special relationship with Mr Bo, and some of the...

(Reuters) - Musician and gun-rights advocate Ted Nugent said on Thursday he had a positive meeting with U.S. Secret Service agents investigating his recent criticism of President Barack Obama, and the agency confirmed the issue had been resolved.Nugent, who told NRA supporters in St. Louis last week that he would be "dead or in jail" next year if Obama was reelected, said in a statement that he had "met with two fine, professional Secret Service agents" in Oklahoma. "Good, solid, professional meeting concluding that I have never made any threats of violence towards anyone. The meeting could not have gone...

Washington: On the evening of February 6, a vice mayor of a major Chinese city who had a reputation as a crime fighter turned up at the American Consulate in Chengdu in an agitated state, telling a tale of corruption and murder that has ensnared the Obama administration in a scandal it wants nothing to do with. Wang Lijun was taken past police officers loyal to a powerful former patron, Bo Xilai. The official, Wang Lijun, sought asylum, fearing for his life even as Chinese security forces quickly surrounded the building and asked the American diplomats inside to turn him...

Hundreds sign petitions objecting to honorary degree Jody Lawrence-Turner The Spokesman-Review Gonzaga University is rejecting calls by social conservatives to find a new commencement speaker because of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s support for abortion rights and gay marriage. Critics say the apartheid era hero and Nobel laureate’s social views contradict Catholic teachings, and more than 700 Gonzaga alumni, staff, faculty and students have signed petitions protesting Tutu’s campus appearance in May and the university’s plans to award the Anglican archbishop an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. “It goes against Catholic teaching and so much of what Gonzaga stands for – or...

I buried this item at the bottom of my early morning post on Romney's rhetoric, but I think this staggering milestone merits a separate post.  The Obama legacy:   In the 39 months since Barack Obama took the oath of office as president of the United States, the federal government’s debt has increased by $5,027,761,476,484.56. Although he has served less than a term, Obama is now the first American president to see the federal government's debt increase by more than $5 trillion during his time in office. During the full eight years that George W. Bush served as president, the...

Brown: Is Progressivism the new Communism? In politics, truth-telling can get you into trouble, even if you stumble upon it by accident. Just ask Rep. Allen West (R-FL). West is feeling the heat for a pregnant pause he took during a town hall meeting after he was asked "What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists or International Socialists?" "It's a good question," West responded, "I believe there's [sic] about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party. (Long pause) "They don't actually hide. It's called the Congressional Progressive...