Free Republic

One of the most common and quickest traps and which most of us fall in the marriage debate about recognizing same-sex couples is that we allow the conversation to center around the couple themselves, that is, to center on the adults. But intrinsically marriage as an institution is not fundamentally about adults, it is about children.William May recently wrote a short book on this matter: Getting the Marriage Question Right: a guide for effective dialogue. I want to summarize one of the key points he makes.Marriage unites a man and a woman with each other, and any children born from...

Romney’s Mona Lisa smile The Italians have words for it; the meaning of that famous smile. The tight lips with the ‘giocondo’ smirk of self-amusement. The ‘sfumato’ smile of blurry ambiguity leaving all to the imagination. But there was little left to the imagination in the Mona Lisa smile of Mitt Romney. It was everywhere in that final debate; that tight smile and warm eyes. The face that never wavered. It was a constant reflection into his opponent’s rage. It softly deflected the opposing aspirant’s mean eyes darting the fiery embers of spent dark coal. The gentle face absorbed the...

What's the explanation for Mitt Romney's unparalleled breakout? A few weeks ago, the Romney campaign was regarded as dead in the water. The polls (with the exception of Rasmussen) had the campaign uniformly down, giving Obama up to half a dozen points. Voter interest was phlegmatic at best. A combined Chicago-media offensive appeared to have put Romney on the ropes. The consensus was that Obama would cruise to another victory, one paralleling and perhaps even exceeding his triumph over John McCain four years ago. Today, little more than an electoral-cycle heartbeat later, the situation is utterly reversed. The big mo...

Republican incumbent Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren both postponed campaigning Monday. Brown and Warren then announced they are pulling out of Tuesday's final debate. A Brown spokesman said the Republican incumbent decided against the debate "out of concern for the hardship faced by people in the path of Hurricane Sandy." Just last week, Brown pledged to attend the debate and even offered Warren a ride to the venue in his truck.

DEBATE season is over and there are only eight days left before the US Presidential Election. As the Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” reports on each debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney, we also engage our viewers by asking their opinion about the candidates’ performances in presenting the policies and platform of their respective parties. The first debate was reported to belong to Romney, as indicated by almost all mainstream media polls -- primarily because of Obama’s “lackluster” and “flaccid” performance in this first face-off. Our ISYU NGAYON daily online poll of “Balitang America” also showed...

[ Click above to embiggen: Didn't you think it was STRANGE that Michelle Obama raced up onto the stage and practically dragged her husband away after he acted like he was on drugs during the Denver presidential debate? That's because he was on drugs at the Denver presidential debate. The simplest answers are often the best ones...and Michelle's outfit that night was recycled from a McDonald's "Grimace" costume. Stating the obvious is fun. ] Peggy Noonan wrote another of her “articles” today, in her coloring book, or the Wall Street Journal, or her litter box or wherever. This one’s about...

Barack Obama is toast. This is not something I say lightly. I generally try to remain cautious about predictions, because the prediction business is a humbling one. I have never been especially bullish on Mitt Romney, and I spent most of the summer and early fall arguing that this was basically a neck-and-neck race that would go down to the wire. But in the end, two things stand out: One, Mitt Romney has a consistent, significant lead among independent voters, which increasingly looks like a double-digit lead. This is especially clear in national polls, but can also be seen in...

Why was the first debate so toxic for the president? Because the one thing he couldn't do if he was going to win the election is let all the pent-up resentment toward him erupt. Americans had gotten used to him as The President. Whatever his policy choices, whatever general direction he seemed to put in place he was The President, a man who had gotten there through natural gifts and what all politicians need, good fortune. What he couldn't do was present himself, when everyone was looking, as smaller than you thought. Petulant, put upon, above it all, full of...

Since he couldn't bring the 'prompters, looks like Plouffe and Axelrod were coaching  The World's Most Overrated Intellect through an earpiece: _______________________________________________________________ Pat Dollard   h/t and Dave Simpson via Coreen Doyle

After watching the third presidential debate, are you clear on America's foreign policy? I thought not. That's because there appears to be no singular foreign policy, rather a series of foreign policies, which must be tailored to fit each nation. I expected Mitt Romney to go after President Obama on his most recent foreign policy failure, the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed, including the U.S. ambassador. The president had no explanation as to why there was inadequate security in Benghazi, preferring instead to say only that we are "going...

During Monday night’s debate nearly 60 million of us got a good look at why Barack Obama has not been able to accomplish anything in four years. It’s his patronizing, me-me personality. Did you see how condescending he was toward Mitt Romney, not to mention downright rude at times? Obama’s more-presidential-than-thou attitude, which he did little to hide or dial back at the debate, should have reminded us of what happened in the first two weeks of his administration. Remember when he met with congressional leaders and said he wanted to come up with a bipartisan solution for the country’s...

See the video HERE. FEINSTEIN FINALLY DEBATES EMKEN! Emken Uses Hollywood Technology To 'Create' Debate (ORANGE COUNTY, CA) After weeks of watching Dianne Feinstein refuse to give California voters an opportunity to compare their U.S. Senate candidates in public debate, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Emken has turned to Hollywood for a solution. Using the same technology that made Forrest Gump a household name, the Emken campaign is releasing a YouTube video that puts Emken in a “debate” with Feinstein – a debate that the 79-year old three term Senator had sought to deny the public as well as her...

Debates are high-pressure, high-risk events, and they often offer low rewards. A candidate's first goal is not to win the debate, but rather not to lose -- to do no harm to the campaign. A simple misstep can change the course of an election. The first debate was a clear win for former Gov. Romney, who appeared more interested and engaged than President Obama, who appeared aloof, disinterested and arrogant. The difference in their performances -- each standing at a lectern -- enabled Romney to gain momentum in the polls. In their second meeting, they prowled around stage, often circling...

Barack Obama lost the debate in Boca Raton last night. It must have been the altitude. The president patronized, interrupted, and mocked Republican challenger Mitt Romney throughout the night. In return, Romney acted presidential, and may have put this election away. A key moment of the night in this final policy debate was a set-piece zinger by the president as the candidates discussed military spending: Romney: Our Navy is older — excuse me — our Navy is smaller now than any time since 1917. The Navy said they needed 313 ships to carry out their mission. We’re now down to...

Mitt Romney is to travel to Wisconsin, a state Barack Obama won in a 14-point blowout four years ago, as the Republican candidate's surging campaign seeks to expand the 'chessboard' into previously safe Democratic territory. At the same time, the Romney campaign has bought television advertising in the Boston market, which reaches screens in New Hampshire, a state Obama won by almost 10 points in 2008. Asked whether Romney himself would be visiting Wisconsin in the closing days of the race, Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior Romney adviser, said: 'Yes. Paul Ryan was just in Pittsburgh. We'll be back in Wisconsin,...

zero has lost Letterman ... it's over.

I didn't notice this before but if you zoom in on Obama's ear, it looks like it was edited. The ear hole is a funny shape and the color around it looks like it was retouched...

Monday night's final 2012 presidential election debate included a brief but fierce naval battle. The candidates exchanged close-combat broadsides over the size of the U.S. Navy, then fired provocative salvos in the direction of two complex subjects, the capabilities of modern weapons and the deleterious effects of funding cuts required by sequestration on the defense budget, especially planned ship-building programs. Gov. Mitt Romney opened the engagement. "Our Navy is smaller now than at any time since 1917. The Navy said they needed 313 ships to carry out their mission. We're now under 285. We're headed down to the low 200s...

All three presidential debates are now behind us. Mitt Romney’s convincing win in the first clash was a game changer, turning a possible Obama landslide into an even race. The debates provided the big boost Romney needed, but for advocates of limited government, the three debates suggested a troublesome four years ahead, no matter who wins. Just a few of the red flags:The China Syndrome. Although Mitt Romney did make some nods to the importance of trade for the U.S. economy, he spent a large amount of debate time trying to start a trade war with China. Of course,...

President Obama was on the ropes in the polls after the first presidential debate. After the second presidential debate, he hit the mat in the polls. And after the third presidential debate, he looks to be down for the count. The question, of course, is why. Looking at the debates alone doesn't tell the full story. Romney surely won the first debate -- in fact, he cleaned President Obama's clock -- but in the second debate, he fought President Obama to a draw. And in the third and final debate, which centered on foreign policy, Romney pulled his punches. So...