Free Republic

During Hillary Clinton's marathon of television performances Sunday, she was asked yet again about the MoveOn.org newspaper ad that questioned Gen. David Petraeus' truthfulness. Clinton had already been asked about the ad four times previously, but this time she had a new answer: She denounced it. "I don't condone anything like that, and I have voted against those who would impugn the patriotism and the service of the people who wear the uniform of our country," she told Tim Russert. "I don't believe that that should be said about General Petraeus, and I condemn that."

August 17, 2007 House Republicans are crying foul over the Democrats' probe into the U.S. attorneys' firings, calling it a "hoax" and a "shell game" that is aimed not at fact-finding but instead at influencing the 2008 elections. "There's a growing irritation among Republicans, because it's gone on so long. With all the digging you would expect to find something awkward or odd or unexplainable," said Rep. Chris Cannon, Utah Republican. Congressmen speaking on the record went only so far as to say that the investigation has yielded no results. Privately, Republican aides with intimate knowledge of the probe describe...

A federal judge sentenced a Houston immigration lawyer to more than four years in prison Friday for her role in an elaborate Chinese visa fraud scheme. Yali Huang, 44, cried as she appealed to U.S. District Judge David Hittner moments before the sentencing. She was convicted of conspiracy and visa fraud in February after a two-and-a-half week jury trial that detailed a scheme to file false documents in support of temporary business visa and employment-based green card applications. "Nineteen years ago I came to this country to pursue the American dream," she said, standing before the judge in a green...

The media have proven particularly adept at attributing anger over illegal immigration to conservatives. "[Agreement] is a striking show of support for a primary element of an immigration overhaul bill that has stalled in the Senate amid conservative opposition," reports the Los Angeles Times. CNN writer Peter Hamby similarly pens: "But no issue in recent memory has united conservative bloggers like the debate over immigration. Their frustration has culminated in a full-scale revolt against the Bush administration and a Senate bill that activists say does little to solve the country's border security problems." "This week," writes Brian Darling in National...

Operation this week marks start of team focused on tracking down illegal immigrants who evade court orders to leave. SANTA ANA – Immigration agents arrested 175 people this week in Orange County in an operation aimed at tracking down illegal immigrants who skirt court orders to leave the country. Revealed to the public today, it was the first action taken by a new seven-member Orange County fugitive operations team whose primary goal is to find and arrest undocumented immigrants who fail to leave when told or re-enter the country illegally after they were removed by authorities. In the hours before...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 6 June 2007 — Ford Motor Company garners five top model segment awards—more than any other automobile corporation this year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) released today. In the study, Ford Motor Company earns model segment awards for the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Mark LT, Lincoln MKZ, Mazda MX-5 Miata and Mercury Milan. “The 2007 IQS results contain some encouraging and positive news for Ford Motor Company,” said Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power and Associates. “Fourteen Ford Motor Company models place in the top three...

Jan. 12, 2007— District Attorney Mike Nifong has requested that he have himself removed from prosecuting the Duke Lacrosse rape investigation, ABC News has learned.

PHOENIX - The new top immigration enforcement official in Arizona promised Monday to do more to cut down on the number of people working illegally in this country. Alonzo Peña said he plans to start bringing criminal charges against firms that provide false papers to undocumented workers. Peña said it is not enough simply to seek civil sanctions. But Peña, who took over about two months ago as the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he also wants to work cooperatively with employers who are trying to comply with the law. Peña's comments came after a...

As Democrats refuse to let up on former Rep. Mark Foley, some Republicans are returning fire. But they'll have to do a lot more fighting back if they want to win on Election Day. Time and again Democrats prove themselves to be ferocious street fighters, especially in campaign season. When they get hit, they instinctively hit right back. For instance, it was more than 15 years ago that Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., was reprimanded for violating House rules to help his "roommate" Stephen Gobie, who was running a male prostitution service out of Frank's Washington apartment. Democrats didn't make Frank...

A group of House Republicans called Wednesday for a congressional investigation into the improper handling of classified documents by President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger. Berger admitted last year that he deliberately took classified documents out of the National Archives in 2003 and destroyed some of them at his office. He pleaded guilty in federal court to one charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material and was fined $50,000.

Lenders must consider borrowers' ability to pay the full cost of the loan WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Cracking down on exotic mortgages that have exploded in popularity in recent years, U.S. regulators told banks Friday that they've got to make sure that borrowers can actually pay back the full amount of the mortgage. Exotic products, such as interest-only or payment option adjustable rate mortgages, allow borrowers to trade lower initial payments for higher payments later. But such products have raised red flags at the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators as more institutions offer them and they become available to a...

LONDON - The militant Shiite group Hezbollah committed war crimes in its deliberate targeting of civilians in the recent conflict with Israel, Amnesty International said in a report on Thursday. The London-based human rights group said the guerrillas fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel, killing 43 civilians, seriously injuring 33 others and forcing hundreds of thousands to take refuge or flee. About a quarter of all rockets — some packed with thousands of metal ball bearings — were fired directly into urban areas, it added in a document called “Under fire — Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel”. It was...

Islam teaches peace, they told anyone who would listen in news conferences, at interfaith services and, most famously, standing in a mosque with President Bush. But five years later, the target audience for their pleas has shifted. Now the faith's American leaders are starting to warn fellow Muslims about a threat from within. The 2005 subway attacks in London that investigators say were committed by British-born and -raised Muslims, and the relentless Muslim-engineered sectarian assaults on Iraqi civilians, are among the events that have convinced some U.S. Muslims to change focus. "This sentiment of denial, that sort of came as...

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701 Friday evening, calling for a cessation of hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will recommend to the cabinet that it accept the UNSC resolution at its weekly meeting Sunday. The resolution authorizes the deployment of 15,000 UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon in support of Lebanese army forces, which are to move into the region and replace Hizbullah in parallel with a withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel is not required to withdraw until the deployment of UN and Lebanese forces begins. The new UN peacekeeping force, still under the...

LONDON - Syria is telling Lebanon’s Hizbollah movement to stop firing rockets at Israel in a conflict sparked by the capture of two Israeli soldiers, Syria’s ambassador to London said on Friday. Hizbollah, an Islamist group represented in the Lebanese government, wants to trade the captives for prisoners held in Israel. In an attempt to increase domestic pressure on Hizbollah, Israeli planes have attacked Beirut and southern Lebanon, killing at least 60 people. When asked whether Syria was telling Hizbollah to stop firing rockets at Israel, the ambassador, Sami Khiyami, told the BBC: “Of course.” “This is a movement that...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel advanced a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday as the committee chairman shouted "good riddance" to a Democrat who walked out of the tense session."If you want to leave, good riddance," The Senate Judiciary Chairman, Republican Arlen Specter, told Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold, who refused to participate because, he said, the meeting was not sufficiently open to the public."I've enjoyed your lecture too. See you later, Mr. Chairman," Feingold told the Pennsylvania senator before storming out of the private room where the meeting took place. The testy exchange highlighted tensions over...

Washington – With a federal grand jury considering whether to charge her with assault, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia went on the House floor Thursday and apologized for her role in a scuffle with a Capitol Police officer last week. "There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney, surrounded by a handful of lawmakers, said. 'I want to categorically deny that I did anything wrong,' Rep. McKinney had said on WETA-FM in suburban Washington Wednesday. "I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize," McKinney said, drawing applause from...

PHILADELPHIA -- A man pleaded guilty to weapons of mass destruction charges for sending a mail bomb to a Chicago surgeon he said botched his penile enlargement surgery, though his attorney questioned whether the charges fit the offense. Brett R. Steidler, 25, of Reamstown, Pa., mailed the explosive device in February 2005 because he was "extremely unhappy with the results" of the $8,000 surgery, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in court filings. Reamstown is in Lancaster County. But Steidler alerted authorities before the bomb arrived and it was retrieved from the mail and disarmed. His attorney, Luis A....

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Everyone in New Orleans must evacuate the low-lying city the next time a hurricane threatens and no shelters will be offered for those who stay, officials said on Tuesday. Hoping to avoid a repeat of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when thousands struggled to survive after ignoring evacuation orders, they said planes, trains and buses would be used to move people out and the Superdome football stadium would not be open for refuge. "Today the population stands around 200,000 to 225,000 people in New Orleans," said Orleans Parish Homeland Security Advisor Terry Ebbert. "Our goal...

Clarification: Katrina-Video story ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a March 1 story, The Associated Press reported that federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees in New Orleans, citing confidential video footage of an Aug. 28 briefing among U.S. officials. The Army Corps of Engineers considers a breach a hole developing in a levee rather than an overrun. The story should have made clear that Bush was warned about floodwaters overrunning the levees, rather than the levees breaking. The day before the storm hit, Bush was...

LONDON - The United States and other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Tuesday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program. China and Russia, longtime allies and trading partners of Iran, signed on to a statement that calls on the U.N. nuclear watchdog to transfer the Iran dossier to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions or take other harsh action. Foreign ministers from those nations, plus the United States, Britain and France, also said the Security Council should wait until March to take up the Iran case, after a formal...

DETROIT (AP) -- The disappointing Detroit Lions fired coach Steve Mariucci and some of his assistants on Monday, a team official told The Associated Press.

President Bush today will call for a crackdown on illegal immigration, a move aimed at further rallying conservatives who recently cheered Mr. Bush's tough talk on Iraq and the Supreme Court. But the president will also renew his call for a program to allow Mexicans who have already entered the U.S. illegally to remain here for up to six years. That initiative has long angered conservatives who equate it with amnesty.

GOVERNOR Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency in western Louisiana today and urged people to evacuate parts of the state due to the new threat of Hurricane Rita. "I have put the state on alert. We've declared another emergency ... for southwest Louisiana," Ms Blanco said. "We're urging people to evacuate," she said as Rita barrelled near southernmost Florida, gaining strength and heading west on a track that could take it close to the devastated Louisiana city. Emergency services have already begun evacuating residents of New Orleans, which is still a disaster area following Hurricane Katrina's August 29 hit,...

Vatican, Sep. 19 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests. The new document-- which was prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994-- will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the Congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller. The text, which was approved by Pope Benedict at the end of August, says...

NEW YORK -- President Bush yesterday implored the United Nations to rid itself of corruption and scolded the global body for squandering the world's respect and making a mockery of human rights. "When this great institution's member states choose notorious abusers of human rights to sit on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, they discredit a noble effort and undermine the credibility of the whole organization," Mr. Bush told the U.N. General Assembly. In past years, Libya and Sudan have served on the commission. "If member countries want the United Nations to be respected and effective, they should begin by making...

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005 12:39 a.m. EDT Ray Nagin: Flooded School Buses Not My Fault New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Friday that it wasn't his fault city school buses weren't mobilized to facilitate the Hurricane Katrina evacuation he ordered. Appearing on NBC's "Dateline," Nagin was asked by host Stone Phillips: "What was mobilized? I mean were national guard troops in position. Were helicopters standing by? Were buses ready to take people away?" "No. None of that," the Big Easy mayor replied. "Why is that?" an incredulous Phillips asked. Nagin replied: "I dont know. That is question for somebody else."...

FEDS VOW TO GET TOUGH ON ILLEGALS Tue Aug 23 2005 17:15:30 ET Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, acknowledging public frustration over illegal immigration, said Tuesday that the federal government's detention and deportation system must be fundamentally restructured. "We have decided to stand back and take a look at how we address the problem and solve it once and for all," Chertoff said during a breakfast meeting with reporters. The NEW YORK TIMES is planning a front page placement for the Chertoff comments on Wednesday, newsroom sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. The unusually blunt assessment by the nation's top immigration...

The Vatican has defrocked the priest who was the first in Massachusetts convicted of sexual abuse more than two decades ago, the Boston Archdiocese said Friday.In 1984, Eugene O'Sullivan was sentenced to probation after he admitted sodomizing a 13-year-old altar boy. A condition of his sentence was that he not be allowed to work with children.But O'Sullivan was later assigned to four New Jersey parishes. He was recalled to Boston in 1992 after church officials learned of another allegation against him dating to his time in Massachusetts.The Vatican's action to defrock O'Sullivan means he may no longer function as a...

Officials say OK to border fence BY JONATHAN ATHENS, STAFF WRITER Published on: July 20, 2005 Federal authorities on Tuesday said the largest vehicle barrier project in the nation, concrete-reinforced steel beams stretching 123 miles along the Arizona-Mexico border, will move forward. The purpose, they say, is to stop commercial alien smugglers, drug traffickers and illegal immigrants from driving vehicles across the Mexico border into the U.S. east of San Luis, Ariz. to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument south of Ajo. Yuma sector U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Joe Brigman said: "Not only will it enhance our ability to gain...

Muslim Scholars Condemn London Attack, but Not All Suicide BombingsBy Thomas Wagner Associated Press Writer Published: Jul 15, 2005 LONDON (AP) - Muslim leaders and scholars met at London's largest mosque Friday to condemn the terrorist attacks in the British capital, saying the perpetrators had violated the Quran by killing innocent civilians and that no one should consider them martyrs. But the 22 imams and scholars stopped short of condemning all suicide bombings, saying that those that target occupying forces in countries such as Israel and Iraq are sometimes justified. "There should be a clear distinction between the suicide bombing...

OTTAWA (CP) - Paul Martin lost a cabinet minister over the controversial same-sex marriage issue Tuesday just hours before a landmark vote. Joe Comuzzi, minister of state for northern Ontario economic development, broke the news in the prime minister's Parliament Hill office just before lunch. Comuzzi, 72, said he will side against the federal government's same-sex marriage bill, which was expected to easily pass its final House of Commons vote. Martin said he regrets the decision. But he said Comuzzi will continue to sit in the Liberal caucus and plans to run in the next federal election. "He will be...

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush asked a prosecutor Friday to investigate why Terri Schiavo collapsed 15 years ago, calling into question a gap in time from when her husband found the woman and called 911. In a letter he faxed to Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe, Bush said Michael Schiavo testified in a 1992 medical malpractice trial that he found his wife collapsed at 5 a.m. and he said in a 2003 television interview that he found her at about 4:30 a.m. He called 911 at about 5:40 a.m. "Between 40 and 70 minutes elapsed before the call was...

May 23 issue - Did a report in NEWSWEEK set off a wave of deadly anti-American riots in Afghanistan? That's what numerous news accounts suggested last week as angry Afghans took to the streets to protest reports, linked to us, that U.S. interrogators had desecrated the Qur'an while interrogating Muslim terror suspects. We were as alarmed as anyone to hear of the violence, which left at least 15 Afghans dead and scores injured. But I think it's important for the public to know exactly what we reported, why, and how subsequent events unfolded.

Rev. Jesse Jackson said Tuesday afternoon that he has persuaded two Florida state senators to change their votes on a bill to save Terri Schiavo, leaving the measure just one vote shy of the majority necessary for passage. "Two of them have committed to meeting with Gov. Jeb Bush. They say that they're flexible if they can find acceptable emergency language," Jackson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity. Targeting members of the state senate's black caucus in a bid to save Schiavo, Jackson explained: "While we didn't have the specific language today, if I could just get them to shift...

Sean Hannity is talking positively about FR right now....

Ads Urge a Rethinking of AbortionWASHINGTON, D.C., JAN. 27, 2005 (Zenit.org).- An advertising campaign aimed at dispelling myths about abortion is under way. The U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities has launched the campaign in the Washington metropolitan area and in national news media outlets. The campaign, called the Second Look Project, presents basic facts about legal abortion that much of the public does not understand. The program encourages people to take a "second look" at their views on abortion. "Three decades after Roe v. Wade, many people still do not understand basic facts about legal abortion -- like the...

Posted on Mon, Sep. 20, 2004 Text of statements by CBS News President Andrew Heyward and anchor Dan Rather Associated Press Statement by CBS News President Andrew Heyward and Dan Rather about the authenticity of documents used to support a "60 Minutes" story that questioned President Bush's Vietnam War-era National Guard service: Heyward: "60 Minutes Wednesday" had full confidence in the original report or it would not have aired. However, in the wake of serious and disturbing questions that came up after the broadcast, CBS News has done extensive additional reporting in an effort to confirm the documents' authenticity. That...

Rather Talks of Questions On Papers Controversy About Bush and Guard 'Not About Me' By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 16, 2004; Page A01 CBS anchor Dan Rather acknowledged for the first time yesterday that there are serious questions about the authenticity of the documents he used to question President Bush's National Guard record last week on "60 Minutes." "If the documents are not what we were led to believe, I'd like to break that story," Rather said in an interview last night. "Any time I'm wrong, I want to be right out front and say, 'Folks,...

Nov. 19, 2003 PA setting up road blocks to find tunnel road shooter By LAMIA LAHOUD PA police set up check-points in Bethlehem on Wednesday to look for the Palestinian who carried out Tuesday's shooting attack in the city in which two soldiers were killed, a source close to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat said. He added that this was a result of the decision by the PA's security council to implement law and order. He did not know how and if the PA would punish the shooter if they apprehend him. The source close to Arafat said the Palestinian leader...

Breaking News::BELFAST, Northern Ireland The Irish Republican Army issues statement apologizing for killings of noncombatants over 30 years.