A news reporter was arrested in Denver for trying to get pictures from a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and major donors leaving a private meeting at a luxury hotel that has served as a central station for the party’s top politicians this week.

The investigative reporter and his colleagues at a major television news network have spent the week probing the role of corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors at the Democratic convention for an upcoming news series. The story will apparently focus on how elite donors and corporate lobbyists use their clout to influence lawmakers at party conventions every four years.

Clearly, no one wants to be featured in this expose and the well-connected will do everything in their power to kill the segment, even if it means censorship and violating the Constitution’s First Amendment.

Video of the incident shows a Boulder County sheriff ordering the news reporter off the sidewalk in front of the Brown Palace Hotel, an upscale downtown Denver facility that claims to attract the city’s most prominent elite. The reporter refuses since he is stationed on a public sidewalk, but the officer is heard telling the reporter that the sidewalk is actually owned by the hotel. Then he pushes the reporter off the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic.

The reporter was handcuffed, arrested and charged with trespass, interference and failure to follow a lawful order. The arrest was made, according to police, because the hotel filed a signed complaint that its entrance was being blocked. For the record, the hotel does not own the sidewalk. That happens to be city property.

This marks the second time in just a few days that Democrats try to suppress the First Amendment rights of those who inconvenience them. Earlier this week presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to censor an ad highlighting his decades-long relationship with a renowned terrorist and the senator even asked the Justice Department to criminally prosecute the commercial’s sponsors.

Two United States military servicemen and four Department of Defense contractors have been charged with bribery and conspiracy involving Afghanistan airfield contracts worth more than $1 million.

A federal indictment made public this week accuses National Guard Major Christopher West and Air Force Sergeant Patrick Boyd of accepting nearly $100,000 in bribes to help an Afghanistan company secure lucrative military contracts to supply U.S. troops with bunkers and cement barriers used for force protection and perimeter walls.

The men took three bribes of around $30,000 each, one payment for each of three Pentagon contracts at Bagram Air Base that also included asphalt paving. The Afghans who bribed the major and sergeant were also indicted and all face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000 each.

The crimes took place in 2004 and 2005, according to prosecutors who say this is one of several corruption cases involving military contracts under investigation. The assistant U.S. attorney handling this case said the Department of Justice will aggressively prosecute individuals and companies that line their own pockets by corrupting the bidding process for base procurement in Afghanistan.

Government contracts in the Middle East have long been plagued with fraud, corruption and waste that have cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars since troops were deployed to the region. Several military personnel have been indicted for taking hefty bribes to help contractors secure deals and various congressional reports and inspector general audits have documented the crisis.

Dozens of criminal cases, including serious felonies, have been dismissed by an overwhelmed court system in a large southeastern California county because there aren’t enough judges to fill the benches.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees defendants speedy trials and, because cases cannot be heard in a timely manner, they must be dismissed. As a result, criminal defendants are repeatedly set free in Riverside County, which spans about 200 miles and has a population of more than 2 million.

This month 25 criminal cases have been dismissed, nine of them this week alone. Last month there were 22 speedy-trial dismissals and the crisis will only worsen because there aren’t enough judges to handle the case load in the Riverside County Court system which has 12 divisions and 13 facilities.

The overwhelmed system has struggled with a major judge shortage for years, but the problem has gotten out of control in the last few months. The county has 76 judges and needs at least 57 more to efficiently hear its skyrocketing criminal case load. The jurists make $171,648 a year.

California’s Hollywood star governor appointed a few judges in the last few months, but it barely made a dent on the problem. In the meantime, criminals will be set free. Among those released this week were defendants charged with felonies such as child molestation, assault and robbery and drug possession.

Thanks to a convenient loophole created by Congress in last year’s ethics reform law, an army of corporate lobbyists has descended on the Democratic convention in Denver to host millions of dollars worth of lavish “under the radar” parties designed to influence lawmakers.

The new ethics law (Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007) bans certain seated dinners and parties in honor of one particular member of Congress but does not prohibit a party for several lawmakers or “finger food” that gets passed while patrons are standing rather than sitting.

A national news outlet has visited some of the upscale bashes and reported how Democrat legislators enjoyed fine food, free-flowing liquor and music entertainment while highly touted speakers—including Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama—addressed the convention at the city’s sports and entertainment center.

Dozens of corporate bashes were held through convention hours and many prominent lawmakers chose to party rather than listen to their colleagues’ attempt to sell the nation on their questionable unity. One New Jersey senator, Frank Lautenberg, joked that it was his duty to attend lobbyist and corporate parties, saying that he had to make sure the food passes the taste test and the liquor is the right vintage.

Passed in response to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the ethics reform law was supposed to prevent lobbyists from securing undue influence by taking members of Congress to intimate dinners at fancy restaurants. Instead it includes serious loopholes that allow lobbyists and legislators to exploit the measure.

This is undoubtedly a bipartisan issue since deep-pocketed corporate lobbyists, seeking to schmooze lawmakers, also have big party plans for next week’s Republican convention in St. Paul Minneapolis.

Enthusiastically promoting its famous change rhetoric, Barack Obama’s campaign fails to mention that his new running mate’s top advisor and fundraiser pleaded guilty to participating in a kickback scheme with a major Obama donor recently convicted of 16 felonies.

This rather convoluted story illustrates that, along with foreign policy experience, Delaware Senator Joe Biden also brings solid political corruption credentials to Obama’s presidential campaign. This, in turn, contradicts the Illinois senator’s trademark change message as well as his squeaky-clean image as a Washington outsider.

A major news agency points out that the vice presidential candidate’s longtime advisor and campaign fundraiser, Chicago attorney Joseph Cari, was indicted in 2005 for helping the convicted Syrian fundraiser (Antoin Rezko) who bankrolled Obama’s political career operate a massive kickback scheme.

Rezko, who has known Obama for years and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the senator, was convicted of 16 corruption-related felony charges earlier this year for plotting to squeeze millions of dollars in kickbacks out of investment firms seeking state business. Prosecutors say Rezko also provided hefty donations to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions.

Senator Biden’s confidante actually testified at Rezko’s federal trial after cutting a deal with prosecutors to cooperate with the government’s investigation. As part of the agreement, Cari pleaded guilty to extortion and his sentence is still pending.

For decades Cari, a prominent figure in the Democratic Party, has served as one of Biden’s top Senate advisors and fundraisers and the men consider each other good friends. Cari has also advised or raised cash for other Democratic presidential candidates, including Jimmy Carter in 1980 and John Kerry in 2004.

His deep involvement with Rezko is scandalous for the Democratic Party in general and especially damaging for the new vice presidential candidate. No wonder the Obama camp omitted the crucial information when touting Biden as a foreign policy expert whose heart and values are firmly rooted in the middle class.

After nearly 50 years in office, the mayor of a tiny northwest Chicago suburb has resigned amid federal corruption charges for accepting bribes throughout nearly half of his lengthy tenure.

Elected mayor of Niles Illinois in 1961, Nicholas Blase was arrested at his home in 2006 and accused of using his office to steer local business owners to purchase insurance through an agency that paid him nearly half a million dollars in kickbacks.

Federal authorities say the veteran politician illegally abused his public office for at least 17 years but probably more. The owner of the insurance agency that bribed the mayor was also criminally charged in the scheme, which authorities say robbed numerous local businesses in the municipality of about 30,000 located 15 miles north of downtown Chicago.

With his federal corruption trial originally scheduled for early September, the 80-year-old mayor resigned abruptly this week. In a statement posted on the official Niles government web site, Blase said he is tired and is retiring early so other mayoral candidates can start campaigning without wondering if he’s running again. He added that it’s been an honor to serve the community and its employees.

The farewell letter fails to mention the pending corruption trial which was mysteriously cancelled this week by federal prosecutors, perhaps as the parties work out a plea bargain that probably includes the resignation. Blase has pleaded not guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion charges.

While Barack Obama’s wife supposedly moved the masses with an “emotionally powerful” speech at the Democratic convention, the presidential candidate worked behind the scenes to kill a television ad that highlights his decades-long relationship to a renowned terrorist.

The Illinois senator has warned television stations across the nation not to continue airing the incriminating commercial—paid for by a conservative nonprofit—linking him to William Ayers, a Vietnam-era radical and fugitive from U.S. justice who has proudly admitted planting bombs on the Capitol, Pentagon and other government buildings to protest U.S. policy.

Ayers, a member of the domestic terrorist group Weather Underground, has long supported Obama’s political career by donating money to his campaigns and hosting fundraisers at his home. The Democratic presidential candidate and aging radical hang out in the same political and social circles, live in the same Chicago neighborhood and for years served on the board of a Chicago nonprofit.

For decades Obama didn’t seem bothered by his terrorist buddy’s violent past or that he publicly says he doesn’t regret setting bombs and that in fact his group “didn’t do enough.” To this day, Ayers, a professor at a public university in Chicago, proudly sports a tattoo on his neck featuring the rainbow and lightning weatherman logo that appeared on letters taking responsibility for the bombings.

Ayers was a fugitive from U.S. justice for a decade and eventually surrendered in 1980. He avoided prison because the government evidently conducted improper surveillance but Weather Underground was formally labeled a “domestic terrorist group” by the FBI.

With a prestigious Ivy League degree under his belt, Obama evidently realized that this is not the kind of friend a prospective commander-in-chief should have. Besides trying to block stations from airing the damaging ad, the senator has asked the Justice Department to intervene and he has tried bullying advertisers to pressure stations that continue airing the commercial.

Many have ignored the threats. This week the ad has run about 150 times in local markets throughout the country, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan. The commercial simply points out that Obama and Ayers are friends and that the senator has defended the terrorist as respectable and mainstream. It also reveals that Obama’s political career was launched in Ayers’ home and that the friends served together on a left-wing board.

It concludes by planting two interesting questions to ponder as the presidential election nears; why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama?

The rise in violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants nationwide is evidently not enough to convince the country’s local police forces to team up with federal authorities to assure offenders are deported before they strike again.

Rape, murder, child molestation, drunken driving that has killed innocent families and assault are just some of the violent crimes committed in the last few years by illegal immigrants who remained in the U.S. even though they had previous criminal records. In many of the cases the offenders had multiple encounters with local police but were never asked about their immigration status.

That’s because local law enforcement agencies from coast-to-coast have policies—some official and others unspoken—that forbid officers from inquiring about a suspect’s immigration status. The rapid escalation in illegal immigrant crimes has not inspired a widespread policy change, however.

An alarming news report reveals that only 55 of nearly 20,000 local law enforcement agencies across the nation have bothered to sign agreements to coordinate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deal with illegal immigrant encounters in their communities.

Local officials say that playing a role in immigration enforcement would create accusations of racial profiling and cause their departments to lose the trust of immigrant communities. Immigrants would be reluctant to report crimes out of fear they will be deported, the local officials say.

This mentality exists in several major police departments located in states with high illegal immigrant populations that border Mexico. El Paso and Houston, official illegal immigrant sanctuary cities, have policies forbidding officers from inquiring about legal status as do police departments in Los Angeles and San Francisco, to name a few. The Phoenix Police Department had a similar policy until a Judicial Watch lawsuit threat motivated the chief to reverse it earlier this year.

Judicial Watch has legally challenged other departments’ don’t-ask-don’t tell policies that have enabled hardcore criminals to victimize innocent Americans. Court cases are pending against police departments in Los Angeles, the District of Columbia, Chicago and Houston. This month, Judicial Watch obtained crucial records on a violent illegal immigrant gang banger who had been previously arrested by San Francisco’s police department yet was released. He went on to murder man and his two sons.