Free Republic

Former Washington Post Managing Editor Robert Kaiser took to the opinion pages of the Post to lament the disintegration of the good old days in Washington when political life was wonderfully collegial and lawmakers had fun governing. Oh, the irony of this Beltway liberal's devoting 2,225 words to decrying conservatives for destroying something that liberals have largely been in charge of for years -- government and its growth. Kaiser sounds a lot like Chris Matthews, who often mourns for the days when politics was fun -- as if the process of governing is the only thing that matters. For...

Video at the link.This should be interesting. Palazzo is an establishment GOP goober. The TEA Party candidate, Joe Tegerdine, lost the primary to him. Palazzo's dad is big buds with Halley Barbour. Rumor has it his crooked a snake.

After playing the iconic role of Lt. Dan Taylor in the classic film “Forrest Gump,” actor Gary Sinise has made it his personal mission to help wounded U.S. military veterans and their families. In his latest effort, Sinise and his foundation decided to treat 50 wounded servicemen and women on a three day, all-expenses paid trip to Hollywood earlier this month. Their first stop was a free trip to Disney Land. The heroes were given a guide who helped them skip the long lines.

Perhaps Arizona governor Jan Brewer was sincere when saying that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (SB 1062) she vetoed yesterday could “create more problems than it purports to solve.” After all, observers such as Napp Nazworth at The Christian Post contend that SB 1062 might actually — contrary to all the hysteria — have made it harder for most business owners to refuse service to homosexuals. This analysis may have merit and can be read here, but it’s irrelevant to a larger point: The GOP’s handling of this matter was a good illustration of conservatism’s fatal flaw. Whatever the legal...

The mainstream press has justified its lack of coverage over the Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups because there's been no "smoking gun" tying President Obama to the scandal. This betrays a remarkable, if not willful, failure to understand abuse of power. The political pressure on the IRS to delay or deny tax-exempt status for conservative groups has been obvious to anyone who cares to open his eyes. It did not come from a direct order from the White House, but it didn't have to.

Perhaps Arizona governor Jan Brewer was sincere when saying that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (SB 1062) she vetoed yesterday could “create more problems than it purports to solve.” After all, observers such as Napp Nazworth at The Christian Post contend that SB 1062 might actually — contrary to all the hysteria — have made it harder for most business owners to refuse service to homosexuals. This analysis may have merit and can be read here, but it’s irrelevant to a larger point: The GOP’s handling of this matter was a good illustration of conservatism’s fatal flaw. Whatever the legal...

"It is an attack on God Himself." This was how Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative Media Research Center, felt about the prospect of representatives from the American Atheists attending the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference, the annual gathering of conservative leaders and organizations in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, the Atheists announced they would host a booth at the conference next week; within hours, they had been disinvited. The group "misrepresented itself about their willingness to engage in positive dialogue and work together to promote limited government," a CPAC spokesperson told the Washington Post yesterday. The American Atheists were invited—and...

For the first 125 years of our history (1789-1913), America was a country comprised of libertarian politics and conservative cultural values. 1) Libertarian politics is based upon the fact that man was meant to be free. Thus his government must be strictly limited by a Constitution rather than determined by the dictates of an autocrat or the passions of the majority. And his economy must be a free marketplace, i.e., laissez-faire capitalism. 2) Conservative cultural values are based upon the fact that there is an objective moral order in the universe, i.e., certain rights and wrongs in human life that...

[1]Last week, there was one of those mommy-and-daddy-are-fighting moments on Fox News as two powerhouse conservatives debated one of the most important issues facing the right. In one corner, was the dagger-sharp and stunningly beautiful and did I mention beautiful Ann Coulter. In the other corner, was the valiant, good-hearted and, you know, perfectly presentable in his own way Sean Hannity. No one can doubt either the patriotism or the fearlessness of these two. You may sometimes disagree with one or the other, that’s fine, but it seems undeniable that both have the good of the country first and...

The “Republican” brand is severely tarnished. Currently just 25% of Americans identify themselves as “Republicans.” On the other hand, 38% of Americans identify themselves as “conservative,” which is more than any other ideological group by 15 points. These numbers are prompting a national conversation about how to “save the soul of the Republican Party” among conservatives, or if the party is still worth saving at all.

1) I'm a pragmatist: At its heart, isn't politics supposed to be about making life better for people? If an education program sounds good, but doesn't help kids learn, what good is it? No matter how good an economic policy sounds today, if it turns your city into Detroit over the long-term, what good is it? If your stimulus program just adds to the deficit and doesn't actually "stimulate" the economy, what good is it? Unfortunately, a lot of liberals seem to choose what policies to support based on whether they make them feel nice or mean, instead of whether...

Ronald Reagan on the importance of political compromise (in his own words) An American Life (his autobiography) | 8/7/03 | Ronald Reagan Posted on ‎8‎/‎7‎/‎2003‎ ‎2‎:‎05‎:‎04‎ ‎PM by Diddle E. Squat "When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn't like it. "Compromise" was a dirty word to them and they wouldn't face the fact that we couldn't get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don't...

Like many people, I’ve been dismayed at ostensible conservatives like Ann Coulter and Thomas Sowell coming out against Ted Cruz. But in reading their arguments, I’ve noticed some very serious discrepencies between theory and reality. Two main ones, in fact. The first is the idea of “splitting the party.” The way this goes is that the Republican Party has a finite number of members, and Ted Cruz is threatening to draw away enough of them to split the party, and enable the Rats to win. But this argument is based on the concept of a limited number of voters. The...

New rankings of lawmakers’ votes show that that Sen. John Cornyn ranks as more conservative among senators than Rep. Steve Stockman ranks in the House, despite the latter’s contention that Cornyn is too liberal: How they rank: National Journal, a public-policy magazine, ranked all members of Congress on a conservative/liberal scale based on votes on key legislation in 2013. Cornyn ranked the 14th-most conservative of the 100 senators. Stockman ranked 138th among the 435 House members. He was behind all but two of the 24 Texas Republicans and in the middle of all House Republicans. How it works: The particular...

"The Republican establishment has more than a tactical deficiency, however. They seem to have no principle that they offer or follow with any consistency. Their lack of articulation may be just a reflection of that lack of principle. It is hard to get to the point when you have no point to get to. Ted Cruz filled a void. But the Republican establishment created the void."

People interested in liberty – be they conservative, libertarian, Republican, Tea Partiers or whatever – need to pull their heads out of where they currently are and let the sun once again shine on them before it’s too late. The electorate is ripe for the picking and freedom is on the cusp of a comeback. But it just as easily could be lost for good if its supporters don’t reconcile, wise up and act like adults. Progressive Democrats have a plan, as they always do. They want to expand government power and dependence. Government never has been bigger nor had...

--------- snip Comments like this won’t help his cause. From USA Today: Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., made a surprising admission to a local Mississippi news outlet during a Monday campaign swing: “The Tea Party is something I don’t really know a lot about,” he told WLOX.

What is a leftist supposed to do when history doesn’t perfectly fit their ideological narrative? Well… If you’re in charge of creating textbooks for college students, you just write your own version of historical events. And while you’re at it, throw in a few editorial comments cleverly disguised as “facts”. Apparently, the end result should look something like the textbook that a University of South Carolina student was required to read. In a nutshell, it explained that Ronald Reagan was a sexist, that Conservatives hate people, and that the “rich” like to exploit the lower classes because they don’t want...

where do you suggest?

The federal government is, indeed, too big; it spends far, far too much; it taxes and borrows an awful lot more than it should; and it intrudes habitually and without fanfare into what should of right be the business of the states. The president is guilty as charged — increasingly lawless and typically dismissive of anybody who dares to protest — and his still-unpopular signature legislation is not only creaking under the weight of its own contradictions but is the proximate cause of our current political trench warfare. And, as ever, the whole sorry mess appears to be rolling on...