Free Republic

Personally, I blame Bill Clinton Bill Clinton was an incredibly skilled politician. He mastered the five "D"s of political dodgeball (deny, deceive, denounce, distract, and deny) better than any national figure in my lifetime. He redefined what it means to be great at politics. He also convinced an entire American generation of the uselessness of politicians. The one-two punch of the irrelevance of the Clinton presidency, followed so closely by the profound power of 9/11, has created a climate in which being good at politics is a political negative. We don't want Huey Longs or LBJs or even Ronald Reagans....

Sen. Harry Reid's office says news reports that Reid will delay a committee vote on Judge Samuel Alito are "inaccurate." Jim Manley, a spokesman for the Senate minority leader, issued a statement Thursday, saying, "No decision has been made regarding a Senate Judiciary Committee rule that permits any committee member to request a one-week postponement of a committee vote." Reports surfaced on Thursday that Reid had told Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that Democrats would delay the committee vote. As word spread, Judge Alito's supporters offered an angry response. Fidelis, a pro-life, Catholic advocacy group, accused Reid of launching a...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican House members disturbed that their former GOP colleague Randy "Duke" Cunningham will get to keep his pension despite pleading guilty to bribery want to pass a law to strip federal pensions from white-collar criminals. Under federal law, only a conviction for a crime against the United States, such as treason or espionage, can cause a member of Congress or other federal employee to lose his or her government pension. That means Cunningham, a San Diego-area Republican, will keep his pension despite admitting taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and others in exchange for government...

NEW YORK - Two U.S. citizens accused of being al-Qaida loyalists pleaded not guilty Tuesday to terrorism charges. An indictment unsealed in federal court late Monday charged Tarik Shah, 42, of New York, and Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 50, of Boca Raton, Fla., each with a count of conspiring to provide material support to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. They were arrested May 27 after a government sting, and were being held without bail. Each could face a maximum 15 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said Sabir, an Ivy League-educated doctor, agreed to treat jihadists, or holy warriors, in...

PARIS (AP) - Two European politicians on Thursday adamantly denied accusations from a U.S. Senate committee that Saddam Hussein's regime allocated them millions of barrels of Iraqi oil in exchange for their support. The denials came a day after the committee investigating corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program released new evidence purporting to show that the two politicians, from Britain and France, received vouchers for Iraqi oil in exchange for supporting Saddam's regime. British lawmaker George Galloway called the claim against him "patently absurd." Former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua said he has already repeatedly denied having "received any benefit...

San Francisco Theological Seminary has issued a statement saying the seminary group that met with Hezbollah on June 1, 2004, did so without knowing that such a meeting would occur and that the students and leaders felt uncomfortable in the presence of a Hezbollah representative and reporters from Mideast media. The statement was unsigned, but Phil Butin, president of the seminary, told The Layman Online that he wrote most of it after interviewing a number of students to find out what happened. Butin also said he talked with Charles Marks, the seminary's chaplain and leader, along with his wife Amal...

Sources in Jerusalem vehemently denied any Israeli espionage in the US, terming as an "internal US political story" the reports that a mid-level Pentagon official is under investigation for allegedly passing classified material to AIPAC, which in turn allegedly passed it on to Israel. Security sources in Israel confirmed Sunday morning that Larry Franklin, the suspected "mole" in the Pentagon, did in fact have work ties with Jerusalem, but declare that the relationship most certainly did not deviate from standard diplomatic contact, Israel Radio reported. "This is an American political story, an elections story, a pre-convention story to try to...

Thursday, August 05, 2004 The Associated Press ATLANTA - Three Southern Catholic bishops said Wednesday that politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Holy Communion unless they publicly recant their views. The statement by the archbishop of Atlanta, along with bishops in Charlotte, N.C., and Charleston, S.C., is the most stringent yet as Catholic bishops nationwide debate whether pro-choice politicians are worthy of the rite. The announcement affects at least 200 churches in Georgia and the Carolinas. Advertisement A handful of the nation's 300 or so bishops have already said that abortion-supporting politicians should be denied Communion, but none...

Holy Communion Question from Searching_for_Truth on 05-04-2004: Colin,I have 2 questions about Holy Communion in the liturgy:1) Are only priests supposed to deny someone Holy Communion if they (the recipient) are not supposed to have it (i.e., pro-abortion politicans) or are extraordinary ministers supposed to deny them also?2) Are only "public figures" supposed to be denied Holy Communion or is your average "John Doe Catholic" supposed to be denied also if it is known of their stance (i.e., pro-abortion)?Thank you! Answer by Colin B. Donovan, STL on 05-13-2004: Canon 912 Any baptized person who is not prohibited by law...

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Californians Launch New Prop. 187 Measure 16 minutes ago By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES - Backers of a contentious 1994 initiative denying some social services to illegal immigrants have resurrected their effort and are gathering signatures to qualify a new measure for the November ballot. The "Save Our State Initiative" would bar undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses and most public services, including non-emergency health care. Police, teachers and other public employees would have to notify federal authorities in writing of immigration violations or face potential misdemeanor criminal charges. "We don't think it's right to give welfare...

<p>LAFAYETTE — Louisiana veterans, from World War II to Desert Storm, may be eligible to join a class-action lawsuit against the Veterans Administration for wrongfully denying compensation, said Paul Labbe of Lake Charles, registered agent for the Louisiana Veterans’ Advocacy Group Inc.</p>

<p>One by one, the managers at the heart of the scandal at Los Alamos National Laboratory told a congressional committee Wednesday that they had not covered up wrongdoing at the lab.</p> <p>And they bristled at the notion that a culture of thievery festers at the 60-year-old nuclear weapons lab, which the University of California has managed since the dawn of the Atomic Age.</p>

Top Turkish general fears Kurds will be new U.S. ally vs. Iraq SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COMTuesday, March 4, 2003 ANKARA — Turkey's military has quietly warned the government that the Kurds south of Turkey in northern Iraq will emerge as the primary U.S. ally unless Ankara and Washington cooperate in the expected war against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok briefed Prime Minister Abdullah Gul on the military's assessment of the expected war against Iraq. The briefing came in wake of parliament's rejection of the government request for U.S. troops in Turkey...

Saudis deny plan to oust Saddam By Adel Darwish in Kuwait City 19 January 2003 Saudi Arabia has denied the existence of a plan to oust Saddam Hussein, as Kuwait, from which Iraqi forces were driven during the last Gulf War in 1991, anticipates another conflict pitting the West against its dangerous neighbour. The Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Nawaf bin Abdul-Aziz, said reports that the Saudis were proposing an amnesty for Iraqi generals close to Saddam to encourage a coup against him were "totally baseless". The prince said the kingdom "would not interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq and...