Free Republic

Armed police are going door-to-door while gun-toting mercenaries are guarding polling stations as Russian stages sham referendums in occupied Ukraine. 'Voting' is now underway in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on whether or not to become provinces of Russia - with the results fixed by Moscow. But, just to make extra sure, Kremlin officials, military police and hired guns are keeping a careful eye over the process - with Ukrainian politicians reporting that they are kicking front doors in to force people to cast their ballots. Serhiy Haidai, governor of occupied Luhansk, said some towns under Russian occupation have...

A former field director for the political advocacy organization ACORN was sentenced today in district court to up to three years of probation. Christopher Edwards, who in August pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit a crime of compensation for registration of voters, a gross misdemeanor, received a suspended jail sentence and a $500 fine. He has agreed to testify against ACORN and one of its former regional directors, Amy Busefink. The Nevada attorney general’s office has accused ACORN and Busefink of operating an illegal bonus system. Tying money to or setting quotas for collecting voter registration cards...

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The opposition said Friday that its rallies had been banned indefinitely three weeks before the presidential runoff, while the U.S. ambassador accused President Robert Mugabe's regime of using food as a weapon to stay in power. U.S. Ambassador James McGee said the regime is distributing food mostly to its supporters and that those backing the opposition are offered food only if they hand in identification that would allow them to vote. If the situation continues, "massive, massive starvation" will result, McGee told reporters in Washington by video conference from Harare. Aid groups in Zimbabwe were ordered...

The deepest and unhealthiest divide in American politics is not the one that separates Republicans from Democrats or conservatives from liberals. It is the gulf between Insiders and Outsiders -- between the incumbents who treat public office as private property and the increasingly neutered electorate in whose name they claim to act. You may have learned in ninth-grade civics class that lawmakers are the people's servants, temporarily entrusted with power that the people can take back at any time. But ninth grade is light-years away from the reality of Congress and the statehouses today, where many legislators regard their positions...