Free Republic

Scott Brown knows he faces an uphill battle as a Republican seeking to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat. Until last week, when Jack E. Robinson filed nomination papers, Brown was the only member of the GOP seeking the seat, which is also the goal of four Democrats. Although the seat has been in Democratic hands since the 1950s, and more than a decade has passed since Massachusetts voters sent a Republican to Congress, Brown, one of just five Republicans in the state Senate, said there is no inevitability to a Democrat victory. “This isn’t a Democratic seat; it’s a...

WARREN KOZAK "All war is based on deception." —Sun Tzu In the summer of 1962, the leader of the great Soviet empire, Nikita Khrushchev, faced a serious problem. His huge intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) didn't work. Their launchers were unreliable, their aim was off and the fuel used to rocket them skyward was so volatile that they had to be stored empty. In case of an attack, they would first have to be tanked up before being fired. The Soviet premier understood that since his ICBMs were a crucial part of his nuclear balance with the U.S., this put him...

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence has invited Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to engage in a discussion about the issue of health care reform following the legislator's sharp criticism about the U.S. Catholic bishops' role in the debate. Bishop Tobin told Kennedy in an Oct. 27 letter that, as Congress "nears agreement on a final bill, I believe it is important that you are provided with specific facts about the Catholic Church's position on this critical issue." As of early afternoon Oct. 28, the congressman had not responded to the bishop's invitation. The bishop sent his letter in response to...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy / Archbishop Timothy Dolan New York City, N.Y., Oct 27, 2009 / 09:55 pm (CNA).- Joining the response to U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s charge that the Catholic bishops are spreading discord on health care reform, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan has said the congressman’s remarks were “sad, uncalled-for, and inaccurate” and has asked for an apology.In an interview with CNSNews.com, Rep. Kennedy (D-RI), son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, had accused the Catholic Church of fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” because Catholic bishops declared that they will oppose the proposed health...

Where is Tina Fey now that we need her? Martha Coakley is the front-runner for the Dem nomination for US Senate for Ted Kennedy's old seat. In a recent debate, asked about her lack of foreign policy experience, the first credential Coakley offered in response was that "I have a sister who lives overseas, and she's been in England and now lives in the Middle East." View video here.

First Lady continues her misunderstanding of California's vehicular lawsVigilant paparazzi have been keeping extra close tabs on California's First Lady Maria Shriver ever since she was caught breaking the state's hands-free law. Once again, it appears Shriver has been busted. Shriver allegedly parked her non-emergency vehicle in a red zone, TMZ reported Monday: Arnold's really gonna be seeing red after this because his scofflaw wife once again blatantly disobeyed the rules of the road ... and parked her non-emergency vehicle in a red zone!!!! We're told Maria Shriver left her Escalade in the verboten spot for almost an hour while...

[Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) told CNSNews.com that the Catholic Church is doing nothing but fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” by taking the position that it will oppose the health-care reform bill under consideration in Congress unless it is amended to explicitly prohibit funding of abortion.] Bishop Tobin's rejoinder: “Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s statement about the Catholic Church’s position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts. But the Congressman is correct in stating that “he can’t understand.” He got that part right. As I wrote to Congressman Kennedy and other members of the Rhode Island Congressional...

Debate continues to rage over abortion coverage in all of the health care reform bills. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made it clear that they cannot and will not support any proposal that includes abortion coverage. Responding to the Bishops, Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) recently slammed the Church, saying that it was fanning “the flames of dissent and discord,� by opposing the health care reform bills under consideration unless they are amended to explicity prohibit abortion funding. “I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of...

A petulant Chris Matthews wouldn’t talk about MSNBC’s recent ratings dip during an interview flogging his fawning essay on the late Sen. Edward Kennedy that’s in the November issue of Boston magazine. “Let’s just drop all the conversation about my network,” the “Hardball” host huffed the other day. “I’m not a media critic.” It could be that Matthews got a little hot under the collar because his left-leaning network has been losing viewers. During the recent third-quarter ratings period, Fox News averaged about 2.26 million total viewers in prime time and was up 2 percent from the same time last...

Is there anything left to be said—or seen—when it comes to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? Just you wait. JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America, a two-part, four-hour special airing on History [Sunday, October 11, 9/8c and Monday, October 12, 9/8c] takes viewers back to November 22, 1963 and tells the story via a timeline using only archival news footage, much of which will be new even to assassination buffs. There is no narration (sorry, Peter Coyote). There are no talking heads. The project’s exec producers Nicole Rittenmeyer and Seth Skundrick used a similar technique in last year’s...

On Sunday night, the History channel be gins a remarkable three-hour, two-part program on the assassination of JFK, perhaps the best on that subject you will ever see. And even if you think you've seen it all and can't bear to see it again, well, then think again.

In a draft chapter that failed to make the final editor’s cut, the late Senator Ted Kennedy boasted that he had slept with more than 1,000 women during his life. The Senator also recounted that he was quite pleased that it only cost him a total of $10 million in hush money. “In a way, the drowning of Mary Jo helped keep down the costs,” Kennedy wrote. “My ability to skate on that convinced many of my subsequent conquests to be reasonable in their demands lest a similar fate befall them.” The chapter also expressed some regret over the Kopechne...

Ol'd Ted is gone but not forgotten.

Board chairman: Brannon dismissed for fiscal, not political, reasons COEUR d'ALENE -- Ninety minutes before his live, televised debate for a Coeur d'Alene city council seat was to begin Wednesday evening, Jim Brannon was notified that he was fired. Brannon, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho, was given a letter stating that today would be his last day and that he would be paid through the end of the month. Habitat board chairman Rick Shipman says the decision to eliminate Brannon's job was purely fiscal. Brannon supporter and businessman Jim Doty believes the decision was politically inspired....

In a chapter of his autobiography, the late Senator Ted Kennedy confessed to having slept with over 1,000 women and spending more than $10 million in hush money to keep his womanizing ways a secret. If you crack open the book, however, you won't find a mention of this in there anywhere. That is because horrified family members and advisers cut it out before the book was published. A close source also revealed to the National Enquirer that before he died of brain cancer at age 77 on August 25, Kennedy also revealed that he had planned to seduce Mary...

Ted Kennedy slept with more than a thousand women - and spent at least $10 million in hush money over the years to keep his skirt-chasing a secret! The late senator made those sensational confessions in a chapter of his autobiography, but horrified family members and advisers cut them out. Before he died of brain cancer at age 77 on Aug. 25, the womanizing politician also revealed that he planned to seduce Mary Jo Kopechne on the night she drowned, said a close source. "While dictating his memoirs into a tape recorder, Ted decided to tell the whole truth about...

The authors of the U.S. Constitution intentionally made it open to interpretation so that it could be adapted to meet changing societal issues, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Thursday in Norman. "I think (they) sensed that they were on the edge of world history, but they were cautious and they knew it was difficult to rise above injustices and inequalities of their own time," said Kennedy, who is often viewed as the swing vote on the Supreme Court. Kennedy addressed about 1,500 University of Oklahoma College of Law alumni and students at the centennial celebration for the college at...

VIRGINIA BEACH A Virginia Beach man was charged with DUI after a crash in which his girlfriend was left trapped in waist-deep water, police said. The crash was reported by a citizen at 2:33 a.m. Friday in the 800 or 900 block of Sandbridge Road, said Officer Adam Bernstein, a police department spokesman. Police said Michael Brandon Walck, 23, lost control and crashed into a ditch. His girlfriend told police that he was drinking and ran from the scene, Bernstein said. It took about an hour to remove her from the wreckage, and she was stuck in water to her...

NORMAN, Okla. -- The authors of the U.S. Constitution intentionally made it open to interpretation so that it could be adapted to meet changing societal issues, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Thursday in Norman. "I think (they) sensed that they were on the edge of world history, but they were cautious and they knew it was difficult to rise above injustices and inequalities of their own time," said Kennedy, who is often viewed as the swing vote on the Supreme Court. Kennedy addressed about 1,500 University of Oklahoma College of Law alumni and students at the centennial celebration for...

MIAMI – Hundreds of congregants have left a pioneering megachurch in Florida to form their own congregation because they were unhappy with leadership at the church that's seen as a bedrock of the religious right. The action by the unhappy members at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was the culmination of a feud between loyalists to an evangelical luminary, the Rev. D. James Kennedy, and his replacement as pastor, the Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, a grandson of the Rev. Billy Graham.

In the midst of one of the greatest existential threats of our times, President Obama is pursuing severe reductions in US military strength.  His recent statements at the United Nations have merely added fuel to the fire. When combined with his pledge to reduce US nuclear weapons stockpiles by 80 percent, a clear pattern emerges. These actions would seem irrational, even by Obama's standards, if they weren't in keeping with a 50-year old strategy aimed at unilaterally disarming the United States in order that a "progressively strengthened" UN Peace Force might be established. This idea has been steadily advanced during...

H/T to Glenn Beck) Glenn Beck just ran a snippet of something that Patrick Kennedy said on the 25th. Here's the full quote at least is it is reported by the Providence Journal. (it's important to note that Kennedy's remarks are in response to the health care debate) My family’s seen it up close too much with assassinations and violence in political life. It’s a terrible thing when people think that in order to get their point across they have to go to the edge of violent rhetoric and attack people personally,” Kennedy told the nurses, union officials and AARP...

Andy Williams, whose hits include Moon River and Music To Watch Girls By, told the Radio Times he thought Mr Obama wanted to turn the US into a "socialist country". The 81-year-old was a friend of the Kennedy family during the 1960s and was present at the Los Angeles rally where Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. "I was very close to Bobby and he asked me to be a delegate for him when he ran for president," he said. "He knew about me being a Republican, but just laughed and said, 'Sign yourself in as a Democrat and...

"PROVIDENCE — U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy fears that supercharged passions fueling the national health-care debate may lead to violence. Drawing on his family’s violent past, the Democratic congressman told roughly 75 people gathered at a private health-care forum Saturday morning that opponents of Democrat-backed health-care legislation had gone too far. He cited, as an example, 10,000 signs distributed at a recent Washington protest that read, “Bury ObamaCare with Kennedy.” Patrick Kennedy is the last member of his storied family to hold federal office. His father, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, died one month ago after battling a brain tumor....

Stephen E. Smith, nephew of the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is backing U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) in the heated U.S. Senate race - calling Capuano the best candidate while raising concerns about Attorney General Martha Coakley’s early scramble for the seat. “She set up a committee six months before my uncle died. There were people on the corner with a huge ‘Coakley for Senate’ sign two days after his funeral,” said Smith, 51, the son of Sen. Kennedy’s sister Jean Smith. “In terms of the ambition, she’s certainly got that.”

Former DNC Chairman Appointed To Replace Liberal Lion A relic of the U.S. Senate for 47 years, former U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy’s greatest impact on U.S. policy may have come from beyond the grave. Recent approval by Massachusetts lawmakers have changed the Bay State’s election law as to permit Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick to name an interim lawmaker until the state’s Jan. 19 special election. The change in the law, which was motivated by partisan interests, repealed a law once supported by Mr. Kennedy that called for the seat to remain vacant until a special election was held. The result? Mr....

Drawing on his family’s violent past, the Democratic congressman told roughly 75 people gathered at a private health-care forum Saturday morning that opponents of Democrat-backed health-care legislation had gone too far. He cited, as an example, 10,000 signs distributed at a recent Washington protest that read, “Bury ObamaCare with Kennedy.” Patrick Kennedy is the last member of his storied family to hold federal office. His father, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, died one month ago after battling a brain tumor. His uncles, former President John F. Kennedy and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated. “My family’s seen it...

Teddymandering is the practice of changing a law to benefit your political party, then reversing the change when your political party will benefit from the original rules to which you objected. Named for former Massachusetts Senator Edward M. "Teddy" Kennedy. Senator Kennedy influenced the Massachusetts state legislature to change the Senatorial succession law during the 2004 election. His reasons were strictly because Senator John Kerry, if elected President, would be replaced by an appointee of (then) Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican. At the time, Kennedy was against any interim appointment until a special election could be held. In 2009, as...

In the background, behind all of the noise around the Baucus bill and the endless appearances by Obama, is another healthcare bill that has been given little attention. A flawed bill this worrisome legislation appears to be waiting in the wings. The Healthy Americans Act (HHA), or Wyden-Bennett, was re-introduced to Congress in February, 2009. Written by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (D) and Utah Senator Bob Bennett (R), it has a bi-partisan group of co-sponsors in the Senate. Will Wyden-Bennett be trotted out as another "grand compromise" piece of legislation? A coalition of Senators from both sides of the aisle...

Forget the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. We are now the Banana Republic of Massachusetts. That’s not original, but it’s truer than ever. Laws? We don’t need no stinkin’ laws. “First we shred the rules,” said Rep. Brad Jones, the House Republican leader. “Now we shred the Constitution.” Here’s how it’s supposed to work. If the Legislature wants a bill to become law immediately, they have to attach what’s called an “emergency preamble.” It takes a two-thirds vote to pass such a preamble. Otherwise, the bill becomes law in 90 days. So Wednesday, the Legislature approved Ted Kennedy’s deathbed wish to...

Former Democratic Party chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. has taken over for the late Edward Kennedy in the Senate. Vice President Joe Biden swore in Kirk on Friday hours after a Massachusetts judge rejected a Republican request to delay it. The GOP had argued that Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick exceeded his constitutional authority by appointing Kirk before a traditional 90-day legislative waiting period had expired. State lawmakers passed a bill this week giving Patrick the power to choose an interim senator. Kirk gives Senate Democrats a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority with the health care fight at a critical point.

Wake Up John Kerry, this year's deficit is approaching two trillion dollars. The F-22 was canceled leaving us with a gap where the US will have no new bombers and we are fighting two wars. American citizens are protesting all across the country because spending and taxes are way to high and you have the nerve to add a $20 million dollar pork barrel project to honor Ted Kennedy? That's what the former Democratic Party standard bearer is doing. That military spending bill moving through Congress contains a sneaky outlay for Boston that has nothing to do with national defense....

I'm reading today that Biden administered the oath of office to Paul Kirk this morning.. a replacement for Ted Kennedy. I thought the Dems took away that right back when Mitt was the governor? Is it because Kirk is supposed to be an interim?

The city of Boston spent $431,000 on overtime costs to deploy 629 police officers, 48 firefighters, and a raft of other workers for the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, according to information released to the Globe yesterday under a public records request. City officials said a federal grant for “urban areas security’’ would cover $400,000 of the cost. According to the city’s tabulation, Boston spent $359,714 on 629 police officers, $36,748 on 48 firefighters, $29,572 on 55 public health and emergency medical workers, $4,350 on 27 transportation workers, and $1,293 on six public works employees. The city workers were...

A Suffolk Superior Court judge will decide by noon on a Republican Party appeal for an emergency injunction to block the appointment of Kennedy family confidant Paul G. Kirk Jr. as interim U.S. senator. The state GOP contends Gov. Deval Patrick overstepped his authority by attaching an emergency preamble to the Senate vacancy law signed yesterday so the legislation would be enacted immediately. The usual waiting period for enactment is 90 days.

WASHINGTON - A large military spending bill moving through Congress contains a little-noticed outlay for Boston that has nothing to do with national defense: $20 million for an educational institute honoring late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Watchdog groups rap $20m earmark for Kennedy institute The earmark, tucked into the defense bill at the request of Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, requires US taxpayers to help the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate realize its goal of building a repository for Kennedy’s papers and an accompanying civic learning center

<p>The tug-of-war over Ted Kennedy's soul seems to be eternal.</p> <p>"It is not possible to be a practicing Catholic and to conduct oneself in this manner," said Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, whom the pope transferred to Rome in 2008 after Burke's often-stormy tenure as archbishop of St. Louis.</p>

The final day of Michael Dukakis’ final—and most improbable, unconventional and just plain bizarre—campaign for political office began on a bad note Wednesday morning. Influential Democrats in Washington, reacting to The Boston Globe’s endorsement of Dukakis for an interim Senate appointment a day earlier, had fought back by telling The New York Times that the 75-year-old former governor “was out of the running and would not be named” by Governor Deval Patrick to replace Ted Kennedy, as the paper reported it. Instead, The Times and other national outlets suggested that Patrick was likely to settle on Paul G. Kirk, a...

BOSTON – The governor of Massachusetts has picked former Democratic national chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. to temporarily replace the late Edward M. Kennedy in the U.S. Senate, according to Democratic aides briefed on the decision.

When I marked the recent anniversary of Peter Jennings's passing with a column about an embarrassing incident in the ABC newsman's career, a couple of readers chastised your gentle correspondent for speaking ill of the dead. So when Edward Kennedy died not long after, I decided to err on the side of decency and keep mum for an appropriate interval. OK, interval's up. The whitewashing and lionizing of Ted Kennedy was nauseating - though hardly unexpected from a media establishment that for decades has been in such embarrassing thrall to the Kennedys. Back in 2003, Kennedy - whose behavior during...

Paul Kirk will be named to fill the vacant Massachusetts Senate seat. Announcement likely tomorrow.

There might not be a temporary replacement for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in the coming days after all. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) was expected to have the power to appoint a 60th Democratic senator this week, but the bill to give him that power hit a snag Wednesday, according to The Associated Press, and the situation could be headed for court. Though the state Senate on Tuesday joined the state House in signing off on the appointment powers, the timing the of the appointment is at issue. Without an emergency declaration, Patrick could not make the appointment for 90...

BOSTON — A family confidant says the sons of Edward Kennedy want the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee to replace their father in the U.S. Senate. A confidant, who demanded anonymity...says both Edward Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Patrick Kennedy have urged Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to pick Paul Kirk. Massachusetts lawmakers are expected Wednesday to give final approval to a change in the Senate succession law so the governor can temporarily fill Senate vacancies. The interim senator would serve until the seat is filled through a special election in January. The 71-year-old Kirk is a Boston attorney and...

The State Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint an interim replacement for the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. The measure won passage in the House of Representatives last week and is expected to land on Mr. Patrick’s desk Wednesday. The appointee would serve in the United States Senate only until a special election takes place on Jan. 19, but could play a crucial role in the fate of health care legislation making its way through Congress. With Mr. Kennedy’s seat empty, Senate Democrats are not assured the 60 votes required to break Republican...

State senators passed a bill today 24-16 allowing Gov. Deval Patrick to pick a temporary U.S. senator by the end of the week following a final procedural vote tomorrow. If the House and Senate pass the bill, as expected, tomorrow a temporary senator can be chosen to fill the seat left vacant by the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. A permanent replacement will be elected by voters during a Jan. 19 special election.

Richmond, Mass. (AP) - Gov. Deval Patrick said Friday that President Barack Obama had personally talked to him about changing the Senate succession law in Massachusetts, and White House aides were pushing for him to gain the power to temporarily replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy amid the administration's health care push. A month after a White House spokesman labeled the issue a state matter, Patrick said he and Obama spoke about changing the law as they both attended Kennedy's funeral in Boston last month. He also said White House aides have been in contact frequently ever since and...

Mass. Senate Delays Debate on Kennedy Interim BillSTEVE LeBLANC | Associated Press Writer Monday, September 21, 2009 BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Republicans temporarily blocked Senate debate Friday on a bill allowing Gov. Deval Patrick to name an interim appointment to the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy. Republicans, who hold just five of 40 seats in the state Senate, objected to the bill being taken up Friday, without formal notice. Under Senate rules, the objection means the bill can't be debated until the next formal session. The Massachusetts Senate will next meet in a formal...

In a strange sequel to one of the most dramatic confrontations in modern political journalism, Sen. Edward Kennedy accuses former CBS newsman Roger Mudd of blindsiding him during the famous 1979 television special that featured the Massachusetts senator stammering on camera just days before launching his ill-fated presidential campaign. Kennedy said he agreed to be interviewed by Mudd as a personal favor to help him in the competition to succeed Walter Cronkite. He accuses Mudd of misrepresenting what he was going to ask him and blindsiding him with personal questions. Mudd told POLITICO that Kennedy’s description of the circumstances surrounding...

Bay State Republicans yesterday all but dared Gov. Deval Patrick to name former Gov. Michael Dukakis as an interim senator - saying the move would yoke the plummeting incumbent to the disastrous Democratic regime of the bad old Taxachusetts era. “Go ahead - make my day,” said Christy Mihos, a GOP businessman challenging Patrick for the Corner Office. “Politically I hope they do this. It will give us another arrow in our quiver to show them for what they are.” Beacon Hill lawmakers are expected to pass a measure allowing Patrick to choose a temporary replacement for the late U.S....

Associated Press story, go to link.