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To be a bonafide conspiracy, two or more individuals must knowingly conspire, plot or plan an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious act. In politics or law, an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act, is a “conspiracy.” Not in theory, but in reality. Such is the case today!

Pelosi signed two Official Certifications of Nomination for Obama and Biden at the DNC Convention last August. Read the language carefully and note the difference between them: Second one without any reference to the constitution.

The GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, John McCain, announced Monday that he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. McCain, who wanted to be the one doing the nominating, said he could not support "activist judges" in outlining his opposition in a Senate floor speech. "I cannot support activist judges that seek to legislate from the bench," McCain said. "I have not supported such nominees in the past, and I cannot support such a nominee to the highest court in the land."

The White House confirmed this afternoon it was withdrawing Phil Mudd from Senate consideration to be the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence chief. Mudd, a career CIA employee who is currently the head of FBI counterterrorism, said the choice was his. "Today I am announcing that I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration to be the Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis," Mudd said in a prepared statement isued by the White House. "I know that this position will require the full cooperation with Congress and I believe that if I continue to move forward...

Video of Sotomayor saying that a Latino woman would be a better Justice than a non-Latino man. Also a petition to Obama to withdraw her nomination.

As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) moves to ease a backlog of executive branch nominations, he suggested on Tuesday that he does not have the votes to bring up President Barack Obama’s pick to run the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.

As Barack Obama prepares to nominate his first Supreme Court justice, conservative activists have three words for Senate Republicans: Lock and load. While conservatives know that they can’t defeat Obama’s nominee without massive Democratic defections, they nevertheless want to see their senators come out with their guns blazing. “Republicans in the House have gone a long way [toward satisfying conservatives] with votes on the stimulus,” says Gary Bauer, president of the anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage group American Values. “But when it comes to the Senate, there are still a lot of people not convinced that ... what people expect is for them...

The path to the Supreme Court is littered with obstacles that can trip up even the most politically nimble nominee. Some of President Barack Obama's possible picks may stumble on their own words. Like defendants on trial, anything these prospective justices have said or done may be used against them by special interests hoping to influence the high court's makeup. Conservatives and liberals, businesses and trial lawyers, gun enthusiasts and gun-control activists, abortion opponents and abortion-rights supporters have a keen interest in a nominee's paper trail of rulings and legal arguments. The Supreme Court selection process is expected to...

In a move that will surprise gay activists and liberals, a spokesperson for Focus on the Family, a top religious right group, tells me that his organization has no problem with GOP Senator Jeff Sessions' claim today that he's open to a Supreme Court nominee with "gay tendencies." The spokesperson confirms the group won't oppose a gay SCOTUS nominee over sexual orientation. "We agree with Senator Sessions," Bruce Hausknecht, a spokesperson for Focus on the Family, which was founded by top religious right figure James Dobson, told me a few minutes ago. "The issue is not their sexual orientation. It's...

The fundamental constitutional principles articulated in Judge David H. Souter has put the country in an untenable position. He is asking the American people to support his nomination to the Supreme Court without assurances that he will protect our rights once on that court. ... Roe v. Wade are as critical as those spelled out in Brown. A woman's ability to enjoy all other personal liberties guaranteed by the Constitution - her privacy and her equality before the law - hinges upon her freedom to choose when and whether to have a child. Yet time after time Judge Souter refused...

In 2005, in Hinrichs v. Bosma, federal district judge (and now Seventh Circuit nominee) David Hamilton enjoined the Speaker of Indiana’s House of Representatives from permitting “sectarian” prayers to be offered as part of that body’s official proceedings. In so doing, Hamilton adopted one reasonable construction—though not the only one available—of the Supreme Court’s messy Establishment Clause rulings. (In denying a stay of Hamilton’s order pending appeal, the majority on a divided Seventh Circuit panel indicated that its “initial reading of the case law” strongly inclined it to Hamilton’s reading, but the Seventh Circuit ultimately reversed Hamilton on standing grounds.)...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Fighting to salvage his Cabinet nomination, Tom Daschle pleaded his case Monday evening in a closed meeting with former Senate colleagues after publicly apologizing for failing to pay more than $120,000 in taxes. President Barack Obama said he was "absolutely" sticking with his nominee for health secretary, and a key senator added an important endorsement. The White House both underscored the magnitude of the problem and tried to downplay it in the space of seven words. "Nobody's perfect," said press secretary Robert Gibbs. "It was a serious mistake. ..."

QUESTIONS FOR SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON'S CONFIRMATION HEARING QUESTION 1 Senator Clinton, during the 2005 criminal trial of your campaign finance chairman, David Rosen, the FBI presented evidence that businessman Peter Paul personally donated $1.2 million to your campaign. Did he personally donate $1.2 million and, if so, why has it not ever been properly reported? QUESTION 2 Regarding the Hollywood Gala, Event 39 as it was called, you have filed four amended FEC reports. Mr. Paul is not named on any of those reports. Has Mr. Paul ever made you aware of his donations, and has he ever demanded to...

Senator: You are about to consider Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State. I presume you take your charge seriously and, if there has been serious wrongdoing that has been covered up, you want full disclosure made to the American people. We rely on you for that. Senator Clinton, with her agents, one of whom was a White House employee, solicited a businessman to spend over a million and a half dollars on a campaing fundraiser. That direct solicitation made the money all hard money and totally illegal. She had her spokesman deny that they took any money from him....

No serious objections expected to Hillary Clinton By ANDREW MIGA and ANNE FLAHERTY – 2 days ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton has held lengthy private discussions ............ NOTE: this is all of the story that will be excerpted from the Associated Press. Eight words from them is enough.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the front-runner to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, according to online oddsmakers. Despite a slew of negative press this fall about Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate, online gaming site Superbook.com puts Palin’s odds at 3.5-1, the best among Republican hopefuls. Other top GOP contenders include former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whose odds are set at 4-1, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, at 5-1. Former Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), who is now governor of Louisiana, has a 6-1 shot of claiming the nomination. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford...

Republicans might want to consider a lesson from the last 40 years of presidential elections: When we nominate a conservative, we win: 6 out of 6 times. (1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 2000, and 2004). When we nominate a moderate, we lose: 4 out of 4 times. (1976, 1992, 1996, and 2008). The only time a moderate won was when he was perceived as a conservative (1988 - Bush 1 as Reagan's heir). Can we learn from this?

Last Thursday evening at the Democratic National Convention, presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to score a political touchdown on the 50 yard line of Denver's Invesco Field stadium. Instead, he won the all-time governmental convention award for the best over-the-top political spectacle of sight, sound, speech and pyrotechnics – complete with superstar performances, Braveheart-like epic music endings and an Olympic-sized fireworks show. For a week prior to the event, newscasters, commentators and pundits were trying to guess what exactly that Greco-Roman, column-structure was that served as a stage backdrop, and what it was supposed to be representing and stating on...

Image from Gawker.There are very few sure things in politics. One is that Barack Obama will change his opinion on the issues. The other is that the Clintons are nearly impossible to destroy. And so, since Barack Obama will not be the nominee until the Democrat Convention is over, and it ain't over yet, Hillary cannot be counted out. There are reasons to think something is cooking over in Camp Clinton.

Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House. Campaigning on an insistent call for change, Obama outlasted former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic race that sparked record turnout in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial divisions within the party. The AP tally was based on public commitments from delegates as well as more than a dozen private commitments. It also included a minimum number of delegates Obama was...

Hillary in 2002 "Bush was Selected, Not Elected." Black Leaders in 2001, "Bush is an Illegitimate President." Gore in 2000, "Bush lost the popular vote." This will dog Obama right through election Day. Pass the popcorn.

John McCain's Navy Flight Instructor Weighs In International Politics [This is a DumpMcCain.com/SiaNews.com EXCLUSIVE] May 19, 2008 Greetings! I was John McCain's Navy Flight Instructor --- in formation tactics and air-to-air-gunnery. I could write a book about this man. Suffice to state, I shudder (and I'm fearless) at the nightmare thought of this man becoming our next President and Commander in Chief. I am not alone as to this man's former shipmates, instructors and senior officers --- as to who and what this man is really all about. Although politics is really theater and the best performing actor gets to...

Obama inching ever closer to nominationUpdated Wed. May. 21 2008 3:06 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff Barack Obama, having now secured a majority of pledged delegates, is inching ever closer to securing the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama, including Tuesday's primary victory in Oregon, has won 1,642 pledged delegates in primary and caucuses held so far -- enough for a majority. Overall, including superdelegates, Obama has a total of 1,956 delegates. Clinton, including superdelegates, has 1,776, reports The Associated Press. Obama is expected to climb within 60 delegates of the 2,026 delegates needed to clinch the nomination after results from the...

AUSTIN — Deirdre Delisi once aspired to be a diplomat, and Gov. Rick Perry may have finally granted her wish. As head of the Texas Transportation Commission, Perry's former chief of staff will test her diplomatic skills in an emotion-filled arena in which a state senator has already called her a "political hack." In an early sign of her peacemaking potential, the 35-year-old Delisi scheduled one of her first meetings as chair with that senator, Transportation and Homeland Security Committee Chairman John Carona, R-Dallas. "I was left with the impression that she genuinely wants a new and fresh start for...

Washington, DC -- One of the leading pro-abortion groups issued its endorsement on Wednesday for Barack Obama, apparently believing he will represent the Democratic Party against John McCain. NARAL has supported Hillary Clinton throughout her career but Obama appears more likely to win the nomination.

'ODE TO OBAMA'Written by: Publius IIRecitation: MineThere once was a man named Obama His life began with drama An African Muslim father An eccentric white mama Obama's white grandparents They gave him a charmed life Raised on the beaches of Hawaii Far from ghetto strife He went to private schools Fourteen thousand dollars a year Working-class white folks They were nowhere near He attended Columbia Then Harvard Law A very soft and liberal upbringing Something Americans eventually saw He then went to Chicago Nation of Islam, Farrakhan, Black Panthers and Jackson The only friends he made All from the extreme...

On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced he had appointed Deirdre Delisi, his former chief of staff, chairwoman of the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees the Texas Department of Transportation. As of today, I will not vote to confirm her appointment in the next legislative session. Ask almost any Texan, especially those who have the need to travel frequently on Interstate 35, about our Texas transportation system and they will tell you that many of our roads have extreme congestion, while other construction projects have experienced significant cost overruns. Last year, TxDOT notified the public that it had experienced a...

REGARDLESS of what happens Tuesday in the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton will not quit. Call it Divine Right or chutzpah, the Clintons believe she is entitled to the presidency. They've been planning it since their days at Yale. more stories like this They are also convinced Barack Obama will be clobbered in a general election, on a par with George McGovern and Michael Dukakis. Ties that bind. Clinton campaign leaders regard quitting as an admission that they couldn't elect a once-sure thing. Think of it: No interviews on the Sunday talk shows. No best table at the...

Senior Democrats mull Al Gore's nomination By Tim Shipman in Washington Last Updated: 2:23am BST 30/03/2008 Plans for Al Gore to take the Democratic presidential nomination as the saviour of a bitterly divided party are being actively discussed by senior figures and aides to the former vice-president. The bloody civil war between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has left many Democrats convinced that neither can deliver a knockout blow to the other and that both have been so damaged that they risk losing November's election to the Republican nominee, John McCain. Former aides to Al Gore now believe he could...

I caught a bit of a panel discussion last night on MSNBC's new show "Race to the White House." The commentators were conversing about Hillary's prospects for capturing the nomination, and all but one of the panelists gave Hillary insurmountable odds. The discussion followed a familiar refrain: Hillary can't win because she will always trail in pledged delegates and the super-delegates are obligated to follow the "will of the people." Only the intervention by fellow panelist Joe Scarborough prevented the discussion from morphing into an unpaid campaign commercial for Obama. What Scarborough did was point out the obvious. The unvarnished...

I have been troubled by Former President Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton's "presumptuous" offer to Senator Barack Obama to serve as vice-president during her presidency. Her assumption is that she would be more electable by the public at large and become the nation's first female president. While we would be ecstatic to have Barack as vice president, all of this is totally ignoring the fact that he is clearly the Democratic frontrunner in the race. After listening to the Clintons, I had a chance to talk to my dear friend Rev. Art Forbes when he came by the office to...

My post Obama will win the nomination but lose the election got a lot of attention and caused quite a stir. It informed about his views on Israel, his church and its connection to SABEEL and Farrakhan, his pastor, his statements in his book and his association with the Palestinian cause and much more. I got many emails accusing me of conducting a smear campaign, making arguments that were "nonsense" or "bullshit" and so on. Some attempted to convince me he was no different on Israel than the other candidates and was really a good guy. Today, a new video...

Were it not for the 12th Amendment, ratified on June 15, 1804, presidential nominees could, and probably would prefer to, run alone, without being saddled with pesky vice presidential running mates, who can be embarrassments. Unfortunately, the presidential election of 1800 happened. It was “a magnificent catastrophe” (that is the title of a splendid new book on it, by Edward J. Larson of Pepperdine University). As the two-party system, unanticipated by the Constitution’s otherwise farsighted Framers, was crystallizing, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received the same number of electoral votes. This made a hash of the Framers’ plan for...

Last night, Bill O’Reilly asked Al Sharpton the $64,000 question — what happens if Hillary Clinton gets the nomination even if Barack Obama comes into Denver leading in pledged delegates? After the losses in Texas and Ohio, the new meme has the superdelegates wondering whether Obama can win a general election. If Hillary can make it closer by the time the convention rolls around, say to within 70 or so pledged delegates, the superdelegates will throw their support to the most competitive candidate.After hesitating a bit, Sharpton makes it clear that he and his supporters won’t accept a brokered outcome:...

John McCain getting endorsed by President Bush outside the White House.

I have put this question out in many of the Mccain threads and either no one sees it or they do not care to respond. Does Mccain automattically get the '12 nomination? Has there been a sitting president that didn't get his party's nomination for his next term?

WASHINGTON - Arizona Sen. John McCain, a political maverick and unflinching supporter of the war in Iraq, clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night. Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary in Vermont, and the two rivals dueled in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island in a riveting race for their party's presidential nomination. McCain, 71, gained the 1,191 delegates needed to claim the Republican nomination with a series of primary victories, completing a remarkable comeback that began in the snows of New Hampshire six weeks ago. President Bush invited him to the White House for a show...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama cruised past a fading Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wisconsin primary and Hawaii caucuses Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in a Democratic presidential race for the ages. The twin triumphs made 10 straight for Obama, and left the former first lady in desperate need of a comeback in a race she long commanded as front-runner. "The change we seek is still months and miles away," Obama told a boisterous crowd in Houston in a speech in which he also pledged to end the war in Iraq in his first year in office. "I opposed...

In a Valentine's Day surprise, Mitt Romney commanded media attention today as he endorsed Senator McCain and urged his previously pledged delegates to vote for the Senator from Arizona during a press conference in Boston. In an immediate response to the endorsement, rival candidate Mike Huckabee vowed to fight on while claiming that this is not, "game over" for his campaign. However, despite Huckabee's insistence that it's far from over, the facts appear to contradict this ever optimistic outlook on his bid for the nomination. The electoral math spells out what is likely to be a very short road ahead...

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will endorse former rival John McCain, officials have said. Mr Romney will release his 288 delegates and urge them to back Mr McCain. The former Massachusetts governor dropped out of the race last week. It became apparent that toppling McCain would be near impossible.

In the end, the Mike Huckabee surge in Virginia fell far short of victory. John McCain swept the Potomac Primaries last night, winning by nine in Virginia and winning among conservatives in Maryland. The delegate count now makes his nomination inevitable: Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) swept Republican primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District last night, defeating former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and adding to his vast delegate lead in the race to become his party's presidential nominee. But even as he dominated the Potomac Primary, McCain lost conservatives in Virginia, as he has across the South and parts of...

Are we ready for a new nominating process? America has been an open barn door for far too long, in many areas. This has been apparent as all manner of kooks from ex-klansmen to you-name-it have run as Republicans in the past years and decades. It was apparent when the drive-by media gave up all pretense of journalism, and gave in to openly mocking and mucking around with the American Electoral Process, and when the States began pushing up all of the Primary/Caucus dates to ensure a premature decision and massive boredom in a long long wait until November. (Might...

Carl Cameron just said on Fox News that McCain "assumes he is going to win the nomination." That is why he is aggressively campaigning in Massachusetts: to try to force Romney out of the race, so that he can proceed to the coronation.

I'm not saying Fred ran the greatest campaign. In fact, as Byron explained, he blew some huge opportunities. Also, I've argued that his candidacy might have been doomed from the start anyway. It's hard to run as the consistent candidate when everyone around you is an "agent of change." That said, the last two Republican debates without him have been boring, disastrous affairs. Fred was always good for confounding moderators who asked stupid questions (remember "no hand shows?"), and he rarely wavered from fundamental, limited-government conservative principles (the only exception I can think of was his lamentable ethanol pander... but...

Dear Sen. Thompson: I don't know if this letter will find its way to you, swamped as your headquarters and website are with the thousands of calls, letters and e-mails urging you to stay in the race. Sir, I know you got into this race in the first place because of your concern for the condition of this nation and the world in which your children and grandchildren will grow up. I also know that you were concerned that none of the candidates at the time you made your decision to join the fray were talking about the issues which...

Fred Thompson was drafted by the conservative base of the Republican Party for two very simple reasons. • The Republican National Committee offered no other viable conservative choice • Only a true traditional conservative can challenge today’s Democratic Socialists Thompson was not planning on running for an office he never aspired to hold. He was asked to put his personal life on hold, and answer the call to serve his fellow conservatives in desperate need of real conservative leadership. Thompson didn’t enter the race late. The other eight eager beavers entered the race a year early, throwing the nomination process...

Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter will drop out of the race for the White House Saturday, FOX News confirms. Hunter, a California congressman, Vietnam veteran and evangelical Christian, tried to appeal largely on his anti illegal immigration platform but never gained traction in the primary race.

"Fred Thompson is perhaps the most substantative candidate to run for President in many years. He has taken the time to think about what should be the relationship between the government and the governed. He has framed his thoughts within the context of a set of bedrock conservative principles that animates his thinking and generates sound ideas about where America should be headed." - Rick Moran, Real Clear Politics "Fred is right on the issues, and there's little doubt his positions are firm. Research his stances; read his position papers. You'll find he's very strong in all areas important to...

CLEMSON, S.C.–Imagine a wiry little man with a flop of gray hair. He’s wearing a brown leather bomber jacket. Medium build. Every word he says, he shouts. Like he’s half deaf. Sounds like an irate hillbilly, even if he’s not. (He could be.) After each sentence, he pauses, lifts his chin, then plunges back in. Theatrical. Now imagine him saying the following to Fred Thompson at the Stable Steakhouse in Prosperity, South Carolina, with one hand resting on the back of his booth and a portrait of a horse hanging over his head: Thompson: Yes, sir. Man: Fred, I drove...