Objections to a swift decision on Alberto Gonzalez, stemming especially from Sen. Kennedy's concerns about his responses to questions about torture, have delayed the vote on whether to confirm him as Attorney General.

This gives us a momentary window in time to slow down or even halt the confirmation, and to make the record of the truth about the Administration's use of torture.  SEE BELOW FOR HOW TO USE THIS MOMENT.

Gonzalez' responses to Judiciary Committee questions about the actuality of torture were evasive, full of "I don't remember" in regard to a very important and unprecedented memo he gave the President (a surprising thing to forget) and on memos he received about it from lawyers in the Justice Department.

And he explicitly repeated the Bush Administration's assertion that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to people the Administration labels "enemy combatants."

Even worse, he has not been willing to repudiate the definition of torture that was so extreme that most forms of torture would be permitted.

The torture carried by YUS soldiers was not only at Abu Ghraib but also at

I wish to acknowledge the work of Pat Lent, Brian Taylor and Cindy Darrah who contributed research and ideas for this paper. Dan Kornacki converted the data from Lucas County into an Excel Spreadsheet.

This report contains overwhelming evidence of voter suppression in Lucas County, Ohio.

A list of voters who voted provisionally was obtained from the Lucas County Board of Elections. The report listed name, address, precinct voted in and reason for the vote being invalidated. Voter turnout data by precinct was obtained from the Lucas County Board of Elections website. Other information was obtained over the telephone from the Lucas County Board of Elections and the Wayne County City Clerk’s office.

A large number of citizens voted by provisional ballot in Lucas County on November 2nd and most of the uncounted provisional votes were cast in Toledo.

Lucas County Provisional Votes
Total Provisional Votes - 4,469
Votes Not Counted - 3,123
Provisional Votes Counted - 1,346

Conservative Christian organizations have accused a children’s cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants, of being part of a secret agenda to promote homosexuality. The character appears in a music video, produced by the non-profit We Are Family Foundation, which was established following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to promote greater cultural understanding. The video, which is being distributed to 61,000 elementary schools, features SpongeBob, Winnie the Pooh, and other popular children’s characters. Although the video does not mention sexuality, the website of the foundation asks people to take a tolerance pledge by respecting those of different abilities, beliefs, culture, sexual identity, and race.

FREEP HEROES

Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and California Senator Barbara Boxer

U.S. representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones courageously stepped forward and challenged the Ohio electors certified for Bush. Unlike the 2000 presidential challenge, this time a heroic U.S. Senator, Barbara Boxer, also signed off on the challenge and forced a long overdue debate on the massive voting irregularities that have plagued both of George W. Bush’s presidential “elections.” Tubbs-Jones and Boxer’s actions will be recorded in history as the two towering figures brave enough to speak out and create a new voting rights movement in the United States.

THE FREE PRESS SALUTES

Reverend Jesse Jackson
and Representative John Conyers

Mustangs freely living on the hills and plains in the south western United States may be rapidly galloping into extinction. According to the Wild Horse and Burro Freedom Alliance, there are less than 35,000 wild horses on our public land today, and if Congress has its way, they will be sold and slaughtered for profit starting this year.

The information on the Save Wild Horses website reads: “In 1971, a public outcry of an unprecedented magnitude for a non-war issue led to the adoption of the Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act, which recognized the intrinsic value of wild horses to our national heritage and ecosystem.” The Act was meant to protect our wild horses and offer them a permanent home on the American landscape. Now this law has now almost been overturned, without much of a hearing.