Free Republic

Former US President Barack Obama on Friday launched a blistering critique of President Donald Trump and Republicans and urged Democrats to vote in November’s elections to restore “honesty and decency and lawfulness” to government. Speaking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and quoted by Reuters, Obama said Americans were living in “dangerous times” and accused Republicans of undermining global alliances, cozying up to Russia and exploding the federal deficit. “In two months we have the chance to restore some semblance of sanity to our politics,” Obama said. “There is only one check on abuses of power, and that’s you...

Barack and Michelle Obama are jumping back in the fray to whip up Democrats — with the former president previewing his stump speech Friday at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Obama will roll out his mid-term message when he receives the Institute of Government and Public Affairs Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government at UIUC at 11 a.m. A point this ethics award makes as Trump’s administration grapples with an avalanche of scandals and Robert Mueller’s Russia probe: Obama’s two terms were relatively scandal free.

I believe that we should end abortion on demand, and at every opportunity I have translated this belief into votes in the House of Representatives. I am opposed to the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions, and will continue to support amendments to prohibit the funding of elective abortions for federal employees and Medicaid recipients. Also, notwithstanding the result in Webster, I continue to believe that the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade should be reversed. Richard J. Durbin Member of Congress

Rahm Emanuel ducked out of City Hall alone on Tuesday, his usual security detail walking slightly ahead of him. Across the street at Daley Plaza, 150 activists had gathered to celebrate his vanquishing at an event called "Celebrate the End of Rahm Emanuel’s Reign of Terror". . . The calm, matter-of-fact way that Rahm's rule is coming to an ending is shocking—particularly so if you compare it to the mood of eight years ago. In 2010, Obama's former chief of staff returned to Chicago from the White House poised as a conquering hero ready to assume his rightful place on...

CHICAGO (AP) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told an event for Chicago police that heeding the advice of those he dubbed "radicals" when it comes to police policy results in higher rates of violent crime. The Chicago Tribune reports Sessions addressed an annual Chicago Police Memorial Foundation vigil held at Soldier Field late Wednesday. It honors police who died on duty. Sessions said law enforcement should set policy on crime-fighting. He said "the last thing" anyone should do is, in his words, "follow the protestations of anti-police radicals and those who have never walked a beat."

"Sixteen years ago, a colleague of mine on the staff of Senator Hatch discovered that Democrat staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee had negligently placed their documents on our shared server without protections. I admit that we exploited this to learn simple things about their plans to attack Bush judicial nominees at the behest of the left wing interest groups. I also did pursuant to my duty under the Code of Ethics for Government Service. The documents also revealed unlawful and unethical conduct by Senators. I reported this unethical conduct to the Senate Ethics Committee but never heard back. Among...

The Democratic makeover is in full swing. **SNIP** Those tensions could come to a head if Pelosi struggles to be elected speaker. Even if she wins, it could be difficult for her to preside over a more liberal caucus. James, of the Collective PAC, said that's exactly the idea. "The status quo to me doesn't mean getting rid of people who have been in office a long time," she said. "It means you can't have the same mentality, you can't have the same goals. You can't have the same playbook. You've got to switch it up."

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin argued that illegal immigrants can join unions, and suggested that a 2008 decision by Judge Brett Kavanaugh shows he is hostile to “immigrants.” Kavanaugh countered by arguing that his 2008 dissent complied with the Supreme Court’s Sure-Tan decision in 1984. In the 2008 case, two other judges outvoted Kavanaugh and said the 1984 Sure-Tan decision allowed illegal migrants to join unions.

A Northwestern University doctoral student who beat cancer was one of six people shot to death over the weekend in Chicago, gunned down by a stray bullet when he walked into the middle of a gunfight just four hours after arriving in the city to start school, police and his mother said. Shane Colombo, 25, was killed Sunday in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago while on an errand to buy clothes hangers, said his mother, Tonya Colombo of Menifee, California "He was a bright, beautiful, amazing son. And he was so loving," the tearful mother told ABC News...

Violence erupted over the Labor Day weekend in Chicago with shootings killing at least six people and wounding 23 others. In all, more than 1,000 people have been shot since Memorial Day, the Chicago Tribune reported, and while total shootings are down slightly from the same period in 2017, many Chicagoans have said the deadly gun violence remains a major problem that the city desperately needs to fix.

In a stunning decision, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday morning that he will no longer seek a third term in office, signaling the end to what has been a tumultuous – and at times transformative – eight years in office.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) admitted Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court that he and other Democrats participated in a conference call on how to disrupt the hearings. [Snip] The hearing had already been disrupted several times by protesters - led by the anti-Trump and Democrat-aligned Women’s March, which claimed credit - and several senators also interrupted proceedings with interjections. [Snip] The hearing eventually settled into opening statements, though protests continued. Durbin later praised the protesters: "What we've heard is the noise of democracy."

Arresting officer says car didn't even have tinted windows Two men who identified themselves as priests were arrested Monday afternoon after police said they were caught... ... their home address as Mission of San Juan Diego in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Berrio is listed as a priest...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday morning he's not running for reelection. Emanuel made the announcement at a City Hall press conference that he will not seek reelection at the end of his term. The mayoral election will take place on Feb. 26, 2019. "Today, the time has come to make another tough choice. As much as I love this job, and will always love this city and its residents, I've decided not to seek reelection," he said.

Protesters billing themselves as "anti-violence" will march along the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago to O'Hare airport where they say they plan to shut the facility down. Chicago police have offered the protesters alternatives, but it looks like some kind of confrontation is inevitable. USA Today: Any disruption could cause major headaches for travelers headed home from holiday weekends. Major David Byrd, spokesman for the Illinois State Police, said authorities will not allow the protest to interrupt traffic. Byrd said authorities had offered protesters alternative venues for the march, adding that he hoped no arrests would need to be made. But he...

Illinois State Police on Monday arrested a dozen anti-violence protesters who were trying to march onto the Kennedy Expressway near O’Hare International Airport. Eight men and four women were arrested, given $120 citations for being a “pedestrian on a highway,” and released, according to State Police Major David Byrd. Among those arrested was the Rev. Gregory Livingston, who organized the protest. Livingston and about 60 other protesters were met by dozens of state troopers who lined the Cumberland Avenue entrance ramp to Interstate 90. A trooper on a megaphone repeated: “This is the Illinois State Police. It is against the...

More than 3,000 foreign nationals were removed from voter rolls across 13 sanctuary jurisdictions from 2006 to 2018, according to Public Interest Legal Foundation research released Monday. The study, which collected data on 13 sanctuary cities and counties in seven different states, discovered that approximately 3,120 non-U.S. citizens had been removed, and that some of those non-citizens had cast votes in U.S. elections. The breakdown of jurisdictions and foreign voters removed is as follows: Arlington, Virginia — 145 voters Chesterfield County, Virginia — 321 voters Chicago, Illinois — 232 voters DeKalb County, Georgia — 11 voters Essex County, New Jersey...

Barack Obama warned supporters that politicians had “monkeyed around” with elections, during a campaign speech at Kent State University in New Philadelphia, Ohio, on September 3, 2008. Then-Senator Obama (D-IL) said (0:29 in the video below): “I come from Chicago. It’s not as if it’s just Republicans who have monkeyed around with elections in the past. Sometimes Democrats have, too. You know, whenever people are in power, they have this tendency to try to tilt things in their direction.” Obama called for establishing a “voting rights division” within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat “voter fraud” and what he...

Wisconsin state official highlights state economy in comparison to Illinois By Cole Lauterbach | Illinois News Network Aug 24, 2018 (…) Wisconsin's top economist is using Illinois as an example to highlight how well Wisconsin's economy is doing. John Koskinen is the chief economist for the Wisconsin Department of Labor. In a speech earlier this month for the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Policy Day, he used Illinois’ economy in a comparison with Wisconsin’s to show how well they’re doing. Using federal labor numbers, he said nearly every county in Wisconsin has seen the number of new businesses operating grow by...

Deangelo Norwood had been in the hospital for three days when the detectives appeared, asking questions about the man who had shot him in the stomach, chest and wrist. “Is this the guy?” they asked, holding up a grainy photo. Could be, Norwood said, but he didn’t know the guy and, to be honest, he hadn’t gotten a good look. Nearly a month later, no one has been arrested for the July 30 shooting outside a Chicago liquor store that severely injured Norwood, 30, and killed his brother, Omar, 35.