Free Republic

Once upon a time, a Republican president distrustful of big government and enthralled with markets nominated a seemingly conservative man named Roberts to the Supreme Court. The president hoped and expected that long after he left the Oval Office, Justice Roberts would continue to do the work of his conservative movement. But Justice Roberts bitterly disappointed his erstwhile supporters, rejecting claims of states’ rights against the national government and defending the rights of minorities against the assertions of the national security state. A liberal fantasy? Hardly. The president was Herbert Hoover and the justice was Owen Roberts, who, in the...

Perhaps Sen. Charles Schumer should have taken the Quiet Car. Here’s what the New York Democrat reportedly was overheard saying the other day on Amtrak: “Even William Rehnquist is more moderate than they expected. The only one that resulted how they predicted [was] Scalia. So most of the time they’ve gotten their picks wrong, and that’s what we want to do to them again.” Whether or not this quote from the Drudge Report is accurate, the sentiment is correct: The litany of conservative disappointments over Supreme Court appointments is a long one. Earl Warren. Harry Blackmun. John Paul Stevens. Anthony...

Certain seasons or events have historically spawned their own lexicons which are unique to those events and used almost exclusively to describe them. Late in the college football season, some games have what are unfailingly called, “serious bowl implications.” Likewise vice-presidential candidates must possess ''gravitas'' and Super Bowls oddly acquire roman numerals. So. too. does the Supreme Court nomination process require its own terminology, especially when the president is a Republican. Over the next several weeks there are a number of ordinary words and phrases that will be used ad nauseam in reference to whomever President Bush submits to the...

Its OK, Republicans, you can stop being overly polite. Democrats do not understand morality, civility, truthfulness, or politeness, so stop ingratiating yourselves with people who would like to do nothing more than drive you into the sea. All of us who have faithfully backed our President, George W. Bush, these past arduous five years are very thankful for him and for the two election miracles that elevated him a first and a second time into the chief executive's office. We have campaigned, exhorted, encouraged, and suffered with our Prez during the good times and bad. We have been confident that...

(CNSNews.com) -- At a press conference in Denmark Wednesday morning (shortly after 4 a.m. EDT), President Bush took two questions about his upcoming U.S. Supreme Court nomination. "Here I am trying to talk to the people of Denmark, and you ask me about local news. That's fine," Bush said to one reporter. In response to the questions, Bush defended his good friend, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; he said no, he does not have a "litmus test" for his Supreme Court nominee; and he said he wants his nominee "confirmed and sitting" by the time the Supreme Court begins its new...

It's happened. Just this morning. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has announced her retirement. Throughout her tenure, Justice O'Connor has been part of the razor-thin majority that has kept Roe v. Wade from being dismantled. Now, for the first time in over a decade, there's a vacancy on the Supreme Court. And unless we act quickly, it will be filled by a right-wing extremist bent on ending a woman's right to choose. We knew a retirement was coming, but if you're like me, today's announcement still came as a shock. Yes, this is a long weekend, but the next few weeks...

MUMBAI: As Pope John Paul II remains hospitalised, the names of prelates from Asia, Africa and Latin America, including that of an Indian archbishop, figure in the list of those who are likely to succeed him, a media report said. Mumbai's archbishop Ivan Diaz, a friend of Mother Teresa, figures in the list, international weekly magazine BusinessWeek said in an article titled Why The Next Pope May Be A Surprise. When contacted, Diaz' office dismissed the report as 'rubbish' and said the archbishop will not entertain interviews on the matter. The College of Cardinals will select a Pope when John...

PEST infects die-hard political losers Posted on Tue, Jan. 11, 2005 If you happen to be compiling a list of all the things that were wrong with the recent election, jot this one down. George Bush may be the first president whose re-election produced a bona fide mental affliction among members of the disappointed party. So many New Yorkers sought therapy after the grim reality of Nov. 2 settled in on them, that their attending shrinks were able to identify a new neurosis: Post Election Selection Trauma or PEST. A definitive list of symptoms has yet to be worked out,...

August 31, 2004 -- EAGLE, Colo. — Questions about race, police, sexual assault and basketball dominate an 82-item questionnaire filled out by potential members of Kobe Bryant's rape jury. Prosecutors and defense attorneys examined the responses over the weekend, and began more detailed questioning of potential jurors yesterday. Forty-one potential jurors arrived yesterday morning to begin the enhanced voir-dire process. They were expected to answer additional personal questions — those dealing with personal experiences on sexual assault, racial prejudice and familiarity with the accuser. The examinations will be conducted behind closed doors over the next several days.

If you want to be a delegate to the Democratic Party's national convention this summer — it might help to be gay. It appears the Democratic Party has a quota system for delegates to this summer's convention. State Democratic parties in 15 states and Puerto Rico are requiring that a specific number of their delegates be homosexual, bisexual or transgender. The requirement seems to be part of an effort by Democrats to aggressively court homosexuals and their money. Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America , said in a time when the nation...

<p>October 31, 2002 -- IF THIS election is any guide, President Bush's team ought to start planning for an all-out New York push in his 2004 re-election bid, starting with a Big Apple Republican convention - but Bush's political team still doesn't seem totally comfortable with the state. Still, consider: Bush is super-popular in New York since Sept. 11, 2001, and Democrats are a mess in Bill and Hillary Clinton's adopted state. Carl McCall is a goner against Gov. Pataki and might even finish a humiliating third.</p>