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In a Homeland Security Senate committee meeting, Frances Townsend launched a verbal attack against the Rev. Pat Robertson. Describing Robertson's remarks about Islam as "ignorant and offensive": “Islam is a violent, I was going to say religion, but it's not a religion. It's a political system". “It's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination. That is the ultimate aim.” -Robertson Senator Carl Levin was equally condemning. As was U.S. General John Kean. The truth is that Robertson's remarks were both inaccurate and spot-on accurate at the same time. According to...

A Call to Catholics Don't let abortion politics stand in the way of affordable coverage for all. By Kathleen Kennedy Townsend | Newsweek Nov 6, 2009 Nearly 50 years ago, President Kennedy delivered his famous "Catholic" speech in which he stated, "Whatever issue may come before me as president—on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling, or any other subject—I will make my decision in accordance with these views, in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressure or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to...

( Surprise: ACORN audit to be conducted by panel full of leftists and cronies.) From this profoundly warped announcement (via ABC who engages in daily, early-morning information huddles with the Obama “White House”) from ACORN itself, it’s announced that ACORN is, uhh, going to “investigate” ACORN, with this group of Lefties-at-hire to go onto the media-stage and do the “Let’s Investigate” routine: In a press release, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis says, that as “a result of the indefensible action of a handful of our employees,” the group will immediately stop accepting anyone into ACORN office for service programs, will conduct...

UPDATED: ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees "indefensible," has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened.

Obama pick faces questions over bombers' clemencyBy PETE YOST Associated Press Writer Originally published Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 2:05 PM WASHINGTON — New York police detective Anthony S. Senft's life changed forever when a bomb set by Puerto Rican separatists exploded, blowing him 15 feet in the air and blinding him in one eye. Now, he's angry that Eric Holder, who played a key role in awarding clemency to the bombers, is in line to be attorney general. Holder, as President Bill Clinton's deputy attorney general, worked closely with the Justice Department's pardon attorney to raise the possibility of...

WASHINGTON - Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser who gave public updates on the extent of the threat to U.S. security, is stepping down after 4 1/2 years. President Bush said in a statement Monday morning that Townsend, 45, "has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans." Her departure continues an exodus of key Bush aides and confidants, with his two-term presidency in the final 15 months. Top aide Karl Rove, along with press...

Bush Homeland Security Advisor Frances Fragos Townsend resigned today, after more than 4 years in that role. As is customary, President Bush praised his long term aide, stating that Townsend “has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans.” The Associated Press described just such an instance: When Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on Bush to refrain from using the phrase "Islamic fascists" on grounds it was offensive to Muslims, Townsend explained the president's use of the...

Ashley Townsend, a college student who ran a red light in 2004 and killed two girls as they crossed the street with their mother, has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and was booked into the Orange County Jail One of her attorneys, Bill Barnett, would not comment.Tuesday evening, records show. Court records show the 23-year-old woman was booked into jail about 6 p.m. Tuesday and the Florida Highway Patrol was the arresting agency. <snip> She was ordered to serve 30 days in the Orange County Jail without the chance of work release. After she is released from jail, she will...

by Mark Finkelstein March 5, 2006 Former FEMA Director Michael Brown offered Chris Wallace and Fox News Sunday an exclusive this morning, and in return Wallace gave Brown a platform from which to tee off on the Bush administration and in particular on DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff and Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend. Wallace probed Brown's arguments on occasion, but largely gave Brown free rein. Highlights from the Brown hit parade: "I think we had dropped the ball long before Katrina hit in not doing the kind of catastrophic disaster planning that the federal government should have been doing." "Secretary...

President Bush... ordered changes intended to break down old walls between foreign and domestic intelligence activities by creating a new national security division within the Federal Bureau of Investigation that will fall under the overall direction of John D. Negroponte, the new director of national intelligence. The directive by Mr. Bush is aimed at consolidating the power of Mr. Negroponte, whose authority over the F.B.I. had been ambiguous. It also sets in motion a major restructuring designed to dissolve the barriers that have often kept the Central Intelligence Agency and the F.B.I. at arm's length, and elevates intelligence operations to...

It is no mystery why Frances Fragos Townsend, President Bush's homeland security adviser and a former mob prosecutor in Manhattan, was called The Hurricane by the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents she once worked with in New York. "You don't want to get on her bad side," said an admiring Pasquale J. D'Amuro, a former assistant director in the F.B.I.'s New York office. "If you think you're going to manipulate your way around, or not be aggressive in your approach, she'll rip you to shreds." That personality has served Ms. Townsend well since Mr. Bush gave her the job of...

For Immediate ReleaseApril 2, 2005 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Before I begin today, I would like to say a word about Pope John Paul II. His Holiness is a faithful servant of God and a champion of human dignity and freedom. He is an inspiration to us all. Laura and I join millions of Americans and so many around the world who are praying for the Holy Father. This week, the members of the independent commission looking into America's intelligence capabilities presented their report. I asked these men and women to give an unvarnished look...

Michael Moore has been making some claims – mentioning me by name - which I believe distort the truth. He says – among other things – that I refused to allow him to use my song WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN in his latest film, because I support the war, and that at the last minute I recanted, but he turned me down. I have never hidden the fact that at the beginning of the war in Iraq I was a supporter. But now, like millions of others, I am less sure we did the right thing. When first approached I...

Protesters who say Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is a poor role model for Catholic women because of her pro-choice views are planning a rally today outside graduation ceremonies at an all-girls Catholic school in Bethesda where the former lieutenant governor is scheduled to speak. Townsend, the failed Democratic candidate for governor last year, attended the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart until her sophomore year, and with her background in public service and education seemed a perfect choice to address the 83 graduates, said school spokeswoman Helen Drury Macsherry. --SNIP-- Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun

Rock legend Pete Townshend has admitted paying to view a child pornography site on the internet but said he did so "just to see what was there". The star's admission comes after a UK newspaper report said a British musician was among those identified by a US police investigation for downloading child pornography from the internet. The Who guitarist, speaking from his home in Richmond, London, strongly denied being a paedophile and said police were aware he had studied child pornography but only for research. A report in Saturday's Daily Mail said details of an internationally-famous musician had been passed...

I can’t believe it. We were so close to getting him. All we had to was beat Jeb in Florida and pick up one or two Senate seats and some Governors. We could have played it as a huge defeat for Bush. I worked so hard. I flew all over the place night and day. I gave up all this money from speeches and everything. All for nothing. The problem was we had such bad candidates. I had nothing to work with at all. McBride. He had to be the worst candidate I ever saw in my life. How could...

Had the Democrats chosen an African-American running mate in Maryland's race for governor, I never would have had my head turned by Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Michael S. Steele. The Democrats needed to form a bond in three geographic areas key to a win, and had solid candidate potential in former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry, veteran Montgomery County Council member Isiah Leggett and Clarence W. Blount, a senior respected member of the state legislature. None was selected. It seems that no matter how accomplished he is, a black man can get...

I arrived at the Jericho church at about 4:45 pm. I noticed a black man erecting some 8 ft. by 4 ft. Ehrlich/Steele signs at the intersection near the church where Clinton and Townsend were to appear. He also put some small Ehrlich/Steele wire signs in the ground. I thanked the man for doing a good job and I planted myself near the Erhlich signs, with a folding chair, 5 signs and small spotlight. A pleasant young man came by and stuck in the ground a lot of Townsend/Larsen signs. He said he never took down any Ehrlich signs and...

Pardon the vanity, folks, but the race I'm following the closest is the Maryland Governor's race (I don't live there, I just like Ehrlich and loathe Townsend!) Here's the math. The latest poll, Mason Dixon, has an Ehrlich lead of 47-46%. The internals have the demographic breakdown: White voters Ehrlich, 58 percent Townsend, 34 percent African-American voters Townsend, 86 percent Ehrlich, 9 percent Now assuming turnout is a repeat of 2000: 73% white 22% African American 5% Hispanic/Asian/Others Let's further assume the 8% of undecided whites split evenly, with the two picking up 4 points apiece: Ehrlich carries whites 62-38%....

In a race that began as a coronation for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. now has the edge in his quest to become the first Republican governor since Spiro T. Agnew was elected in 1966, according to a new independent poll. The survey of 869 likely voters taken Oct. 26-28 by Potomac Survey Research, sponsored by The Gazette and The (Baltimore) Sun, shows Ehrlich with 46 percent and Townsend with 42 percent of the vote. The margin of error is 3.4 percent. Twelve percent of likely voters are undecided.

At a time when almost all of Maryland's gunowners are cowering in fear from police interrogations, gun grabbing raids... and while "politically correct" (PC) politicians avoided freedom debates, hide in their closets or "head for the hills" on the subject of gun control... once again, the DC and Maryland Tyranny Response Teams rise up to confront the anti-gun, anti-freedom, anti-RKBA, anti-American, gun CONTROL FREAKS that came out to "protest" Maryland gubernatorial candidate Bob Ehrlich's moderate "record" on gun control, right in front of the main Ehrlich/Steele campaign office in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. This gun control freak protest and the resulting...

Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. are running neck and neck among likely voters as the campaign for governor of Maryland enters its final hectic week, according to the latest Washington Post poll. With few voters saying they were undecided and only a modest number saying they might be persuaded to switch sides, the poll suggests that the outcome will depend heavily on each candidate's ability to rally core supporters to the polls.

I am aghast at The Post's endorsement of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend [editorial, Oct. 20]. The Post says Ms. Townsend has a track record that suggests fidelity to certain core principles. But we don't know what her record is; she has yet to cast one vote for anything in her political career. The Post listed qualifications such as family connections, raising four children and creating a program that forces volunteering upon middle- and high-school students, a contradiction in terms if I've ever heard one. Unmentioned in The Post's endorsement of Ms. Townsend is her one responsibility as lieutenant governor, the state...

Poll: Governor's Race In Dead Heat POSTED: 10:52 a.m. EDT October 22, 2002 UPDATED: 11:47 a.m. EDT October 22, 2002 ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- In our commitment 2002 report, a new poll Tuesday from Gonzales-Arscott research puts the two main candidates for governor in a statistical dead heat. According to the poll, 46 percent of likely voters said they'd vote for Rep. Congressman Bob Ehrlich while 45 percent said they'd vote for Dem. Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. The margin of error is 3.5 percent.

With more than $7.7 million raised so far, the 8th District in Montgomery and Prince George's counties is the site of the nation's most expensive congressional race. It's also a critical campaign stop in the gubernatorial race. But all of that cash and campaigning will mean little if voters are too fearful of the Washington-area sniper to go to the polls Nov. 5. Like everybody else, officials at the Montgomery County Board of Elections are hoping the sniper is caught soon. But if the killer remains at large on Election Day, the county is exploring ways to keep people feeling...

They are at 48.2% each! It doesn't get any closer! Heartening news considering that b*tch spending the past couple of weeks standing on top of the sniper victims before their bodies are even cold blasting Ehrlich on gun control. Look's like it ain't working.

Wishful Thinking It's refreshing to me that somebody other than myself doesn't like Robert Ehrlich. Thanks, Brian Morton (Political Animal, Sept. 25). I'm up to my ass in Ehrlich--every third vehicle I see on the road has an Ehrlich bumper sticker; every third house has an Ehrlich sign on its lawn or front window. Every other small store that isn't in an enclosed mall has Ehrlich on its window. The gang of loudmouthed right-wing assholes infesting AM talk shows make it sound like Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has a portrait of Lenin on her wall. I wish, like Alan Keyes and...

By late morning that Sunday, the candidate had already derided her opponent for voting against an assault weapons ban, accused him of seeking to cut education funding and dismissed his budget proposal as "half-baked." Then Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Maryland's lieutenant governor who is seeking the state's top political office, followed her rival to the podium at the Rockville synagogue to respond to another question from the audience. What was her political philosophy?

Disgraced former President Bill Clinton and Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen KENNEDY! Townsend greet supporters at a campaign rally at Coppin State University in Baltimore Friday. Two days after his wife, HILLARY! helped Townsend raise nearly $100,000 for her Democrat campaign for governor, the impeached President and alleged rapist paid a visit Friday that's expected to generate $500,000.(AP Photo/Roberto Borea)

<p>In a room packed with 1,700 Democrats, mostly women, who each paid $25 to attend, Mrs. Clinton rallied women's votes and applauded Mrs. Townsend's policies. Supporters and well-wishers paid $1,000 per person to attend a reception afterward.</p> <p>Mrs. Clinton said she was "very proud of Kathleen for the life she's led." Praising her policies on education, health care and gun-control issues, Mrs. Clinton said Mrs. Townsend is a woman who has "truly understood what it is to be a leader. She is ready to take the next step to lead Maryland into the next century with vision, vigor and enthusiasm."</p>

This is a vanity post and I would like to ask some questions. The main one is, how are the elections shaping up? I was watching Hannity and Colmes the other night and Dick Morris was on. He stated that any incumbant below fifty percent in the polls is in trouble and even though the incumbant is not leading, will probably not get re- elected. Has any of you finid this to be the case? Also, on O'Reilly either last night or sometime this week, some guy was on talking about Florida. He said that Jeb Bush is in serious...

Maryland Governor 10/14/2002 Ehrlich (R) 49% Townsend (D) 47% Undecided/Other 4% Data Collected 10/11/02 - 10/13/02 Geography State of Maryland Universe 622 Likely Voters Margin of Error 4.0% Client WMAR-TV Baltimore WJLA-TV Washington

Townsend Ahead Of Ehrlich In Latest Poll NEWS4 Mason-Dixon Poll Suggests Tight Race POSTED: 7:41 p.m. EDT October 14, 2002 ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has pulled ahead of her Republican opponent in a NEWS4 Mason-Dixon poll conducted over the weekend. It appears Townsend has 46 percent of the vote and Republican Bob Ehrlich trails by only 1 percentage point, at 45 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Pollsters say the results point to another tight race, as the last two Maryland gubernatorial races have been just as close....

<p>A careful look at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend — her campaign's flirtation with hiring consultant Julius Henson to scare black voters into voting against Republican nominee Robert Ehrlich, her strident defense of affirmative action and her efforts to insinuate that Jewish Marylanders have no business voting for Republicans — suggests that sowing racial and ethnic discord are key components of her campaign.</p>

Join Bob Ehrlich's Athletes for Bob Event Monday, October 21, 2002 Martin's West 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. VIP Reception / $500 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Reception / $125 Come and Meet Former and Current Players from the Colts, Orioles, Ravens, Blast, an Olympic Gold Medalist and many more! Brooks Robinson, Dorthy Hamill, Art Donavan, Jim Palmer, Gary Williams Tom Matte, Boog Powell, Chris Redman, Lydell Mitchell, Rick Demsey, Todd Heap, Joe Washington, Chuck Thompson, Matt Stover, Bruce Laird , Mike Flanagan, Bob Ferry, Keith Van Eron, (Children under 12 free when accompanied by an adult) For more information...

Election: Late-deciding voters will likely sway close contests for the state's top office and for two congressional seats. The race for Maryland governor is deadlocked and will be decided by voters who have yet to choose between Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., and by a shrinking pool of others still willing to change their minds, a new poll released yesterday shows.

Baltimore's NEWS - TALK- SPORTS Station It Was Ugly at Morgan State Last NightSeptember 27, 2002    Ron Smith's Something to Say     (September 27, 2002) Well, what a rude, contemptuous, ugly reception Bob Ehrlich got at Morgan State last night when he showed up to debate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. (They even booed his wife and parents as they were led to their seats). This gubernatorial debate was so stacked in favor of the Democrat as to be ludicrous—even for the State of Maryland. Not only was the audience aggressively hostile to the Republican congressman, the questioners on the...

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend came to prove that she has command of both the minutiae of policy and the basics of the English language. Robert L. Ehrlich sought to emerge as Daniel venturing into the lion's den - a Republican at a historically black campus at a forum sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP. At the outset of last night's forum for the two major candidates for governor of Maryland, however, the question, at least briefly, was this: Would Ehrlich get a word out?

It seemed fitting that NAACP President Kweisi Mfume adopted a boxing promoter's cadence in introducing last night's gubernatorial debate at Morgan State University. "Ladies and gentlemen," Mfume began before the television cameras started rolling. "You know, in Las Vegas they say, 'Go to your respective corners.' But we're not going to do that." But he might as well have. This was the election-time equivalent of pro wrestling's Smackdown. It was held in a cavernous college auditorium in which the crowd became part of the story by behaving as if it were watching a TV game show.

In a 90-minute face-off marked by verbal cuts and sarcasm, Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. sharply attacked each other's records and political promises last night as they debated for the first time in Maryland's gubernatorial campaign. Neither candidate broke new ground in the ragged debate, repeating themes they've emphasized through the campaign. Townsend argued that Ehrlich's congressional record shows he has turned his back on schoolchildren, minorities and the poor. Ehrlich said Townsend lacks the experience to lead the state and almost four decades of Democratic rule has led to arrogance and budget shortfalls.

I hope to see any Freepers and Lurkers in Baltimore Area at tonight's forum

He said, she said: With few details nailed down, the looming Ehrlich-Townsend debate has issues to address Radio & TV: David Folkenflik -------------------------------------------------------- Originally published Sep 25, 2002 Excerpted from the Baltimore Sun Aides to Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. say he'll be able to show the whole state his plans to address a wide range of issues affecting Marylanders. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's camp says she'll have the chance to strip Ehrlich of his ability to hide his conservatism in a state that leans toward Democrats. They're both talking about tomorrow's televised debate - the first in this year's race for...

With a $1.7 billion budget gap facing the next governor, U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. last week unveiled a budget outline that relies heavily on gambling revenue, while Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend called for immediate spending cuts and refused to rule out a tax increase. Ehrlich (R) seized on the dismal budget numbers released by the Bureau of Revenue Estimates to hammer home his message that the Democrats under Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Townsend spent too much while ignoring the looming fiscal crunch. "It's not leadership to pretend you can spend forever," Ehrlich said. "It's not leadership...

Julius Henson, the combative Baltimore political operative tapped this week to generate votes for Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and other Democrats, was abruptly dropped last night after calling Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. a Nazi in an interview with a newspaper reporter yesterday. Speaking to a Washington Post journalist earlier in the day, Henson said: "Bobby Ehrlich is a Nazi. His record is horrible, atrocious. ... He should be running in Germany in 1942, not Maryland in 2002," according to a story published on the newspaper's Web site last night. He said the Republican nominee for governor was opposed to blacks,...

Democratic leaders convene to rescue Townsend campaign; O'Malley criticized for reluctant support; Concern over 'major disarray' By David Nitkin Sun Staff Originally published September 19, 2002 Excerpted from Original article Maryland's top elected Democrats gathered in a Washington hotel yesterday for a frank post-primary critique of Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's flagging gubernatorial campaign and began plotting strategies to rescue a candidate they believe is in trouble. The meeting...reflected Democrats' unease over the Townsend campaign. Two new polls show the lieutenant governor has been overtaken by her Republican opponent, Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr... ...With Townsend's prospects falling, some Democratic...

Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. leads Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend 46 percent to 43 percent in the race for Maryland governor, according to a poll for Washington television station WRC-NBC4 released yesterday. The poll is the first to show Ehrlich with a lead in the tightening contest, although it has a margin of error of 4 percentage points, meaning the race remains a statistical tie, as other recent polls have suggested. It was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., which surveyed 625 likely voters statewide.

<p>A retired grocery clerk and his running mate - who until recently was homeless - received about a fifth of the vote in the Democratic primary for governor against a Kennedy who outspent him by 2,300-to-1.</p> <p>With 98 percent of the precincts reporting this morning, Robert R. Fustero, 51, from Rockville, had 20 percent of the vote in his long shot bid to defeat Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.</p> <p>Fustero's running mate is Linda J. Atkins, a 43-year-old College Park woman who lived in a tent for most of the past decade.</p>

<p>With 98 percent of the precincts reporting this morning, Robert R. Fustero, 51, from Rockville, had 20 percent of the vote in his long shot bid to defeat Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.</p> <p>Fustero's running mate is Linda J. Atkins, a 43-year-old College Park woman who lived in a tent for most of the past decade.</p> <p>Fustero's surprisingly strongly showing came despite spending less than $1,000 - including the $295 filing fee - on his campaign. Townsend spent $2.3 million through the end of last month, according to campaign-finance reports.</p>

Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire, the Republican incumbent, lost the chance to run for re-election in Tuesday's primary. He is the first U.S. senator in a decade to lose a primary election, wire services reported. Smith was defeated by Rep. John Sununu (R-N.H.) the son of a former N.H. governor. In 1999, Sen. Smith briefly switched from the Republican Party to run for president as an independent, and voters apparently didn't forgive him for that. Sununu will face Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire's current governor who also is running for the U.S. Senate, in November. North Carolina In North...

Efforts by Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to win over Jewish voters in Maryland, many of whom have traditionally voted Democratic in the past, may be paying off. Influential members of the Baltimore region's Jewish community say Ehrlich is gaining uncommonly strong support from Jewish Democrats in his bid to become Maryland's first Republican governor since the 1960s. And in Montgomery County, where he is far less known, Jewish voters are beginning to give him a look, leaders there say. Ehrlich says the support reflects that he's a Republican who bothers to ask Jews for their vote - something he...