Free Republic

I’ve been approached several times today by doubters who advance arguments as to why Sarah Palin cannot win the nomination, or if she secures it, why she can’t defeat Barack Obama. All of the theories I’ve had pitched in my direction today share a couple common faults, and it’s important to point them out here. The most common reason I’ve heard today is the belief that the Media will destroy her. That’s silly. Is there a single Republican, never mind conservative, who the media will not seek to destroy to defend their darling, Barack Obama? Anybody who watched the media...

(CNN)-Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page Monday to warn Americans about President Barack Obama’s plan to improve the nation’s economy. “Be wary of the efforts President Obama makes to ‘fix’ the debt problem,” she said. “The more he tries to ‘fix’ things, the worse they get.” A “surprised” Palin sounded off on reaction to the nation’s credit rating downgrade and chided “so-called smart people” who doubted her forecast of economic repercussions. “I’m surprised that so many people seem surprised by S&P’s decision,” Palin wrote. “Weren’t people paying attention over the last year or so when we...

This is actually the second Hot Air straw poll this month. The first one showed virtually the same results as this one, Sarah Palin crushing all comers, but the increasingly anti-conservative, anti-Palin website chose to spin some of her best results ever, as somehow a bad thing, and I was laughing so hard I simply couldn’t type a response to Patrick Ishmael’s drivel, and didn’t publish the results. Here’s a link to that survey, you compare it with the latest, and find that Sarah’s support is once again stronger than ever. And, once again, Ishmael looked for an angle, so...

Sarah Palin has stolen my patriotic heart because we both share a love for country and down-home American values and I am pleased to write this tribute to the next and first female American president. Palin was thrust onto the world's stage as America's foremost political newcomer in 2008 and I was drawn to her by simply listening to the truth her words conveyed. She spoke of reducing the size of government, her pride in her country and of fidelity to America's continued fight for freedom and liberty. Now, more than two years later, Palin continues the fight by speaking...

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Two unexpected gushers in northeastern Pennsylvania are helping to illustrate the enormous potential of the Marcellus Shale natural gas field. Each of the Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. wells in Susquehanna County is capable of producing 30 million cubic feet per day -- believed to be a record for the Marcellus and enough gas to supply nearly 1,000 homes for a year. The landowners attached to the wells, who leased the well access, numbering fewer than 25, are splitting hundreds of thousands of dollars in monthly royalties. "There was definitely excitement among the team that planned...

Within minutes of the Obama administration's surprise announcement it would release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, House Speaker John Boehner's office took a shot at the White House's energy policy. "WH plan to release oil from SPR is clear acknowledgment more supply needed, yet it continues to block more American energy production," Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith tweeted Thursday morning. House Republicans have passed several bills already this year that would encourage new offshore oil drilling, including one Wednesday to limit the amount of time the EPA can spend reviewing drilling permits. Some questioned whether the...

She was hands-on and averse to partisan politics. She championed openness in government and had normal relations with the media. She was a little starstruck by her interactions with national politicians but unafraid to do battle with the chief executives of the world’s largest oil companies The emails from her governorship, released Friday, brought back the memory of a long-lost Palin: the popular, charismatic, competent woman of the people. Far from being a knee-jerk partisan, she praises then-Sen. Barack Obama for his energy ideas — “pretty cool,” even though he is the “wrong candidate.” She derides the Republican establishment just...

Sen. Mark Begich is turning a deaf ear to Sarah Palin's demand that he make drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a condition for his vote to approve raising the nation's debt ceiling. "She's not really on my radar screen to take advice from," the Alaska Democrat told reporters Tuesday. "Let me put it this way. It's always interesting to read what she has to say," Begich said. But, he added, "Someone who quit Alaska is not someone I look for to get Alaska policy decisions on." In discussing the debt ceiling vote on "Fox News Sunday," Palin said:...

Energy Policy: The former governor of energy-rich Alaska calls the administration's bluff: End tax breaks for all forms of energy, she says, and let the free market pick winners and losers. End the ethanol pandering too. She isn't running, or riding, for president, at least not yet. But at a stop on her One Nation bus tour, Sarah Palin offered a winning idea for an economy strapped for energy and jobs and saddled with unsustainable debt. "I think all our energy subsidies need to be re-looked at today and eliminated," Palin told Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics during a...

The Mama Grizzly is coming out of hibernation. This weekend, Sarah Palin is launching her "One Nation" bus tour, visiting historical sites across the country. Palin will start on Memorial Day at the Rolling Thunder weekend motorcycle rally that starts at the Pentagon. Where it will end has yet to be announced. But given Palin's other recent move—the announcement of a feature-length film on her tenure as governor—it looks as if her ultimate destination may be the White House. Whatever Mitt Romney had on his plate for Memorial Day, he'd better make room. If we assume—for the purposes of page...

Alternate headline: “Politico buries lead.” “It’s possible someone may get in later on,” Gillespie said, “but Republican activists, officials and donors are going to begin picking a horse from the current field. We have a field that will produce a nominee capable of beating Obama next November.”…Republicans officials have no idea what [Palin is] planning, although they agree she would have tons to lose by entering a race that would cost her the mystique she has built up. And Romney advisers said her entry would help the former Massachusetts governor dramatically.“The shock value would cause elected officials and party officials...

I do.

Energy: Lack of oil volume due to administration bans on new Alaskan drilling may force the shutdown of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, denying us even the tens of billions of barrels left in already developed fields. The Trans-Alaskan pipeline is dying, another casualty of the Obama administration's war on domestic fossil fuel energy and its deliberate effort to drive up energy prices to make so-called "green" energy alternatives more attractive. It was built to handle the oil produced on Alaska's North Slope at Prudhoe Bay and was a marvel of American engineering and exceptionalism. When oil exploration began in Prudhoe Bay,...

Energy: Extending existing oil leases as the president has proposed accomplishes nothing if the White House's environmental handcuffs won't let them be used. Lucy wants to hold the football for Charlie Brown again. When President Obama said during his Saturday radio address that "we should increase safe and responsible oil production here at home," the operative words were "safe and responsible." We will drill if it's safe for polar bears, caribou and West Texas lizards, and if it doesn't contribute to the "climate change" myth. Similar words were used to justify the seven-year moratorium on offshore drilling off both coasts,...

Conservatives for Palin is rejoicing for the same reason some of you now have a dark cloud of fear hanging over your Saturday night. The fundie vote is up for grabs now that Huckabee is out and the second in line candidate is Sarah Palin. Yes, that’s right. Sarah Blood Libel Palin. One day years ago, after the sportscaster fill-in job didn’t work out, a young Sarah Palin told a friend she wanted to be President one day. Today she wants it so bad she chokes on her own bitterness every time she has to say “Obama”. Palin has still...

Calls to speed up the withdrawal of U.S. troops from and Central Asia have increased since Osama bin Laden’s death, but decision-makers have made clear that such a drawdown of troops is not happening any time soon. As the White House, Congress, and media pundits ponder and expound upon what, if any, changes should be made to U.S. policy on the issue, one thing is certain: U.S. military jets will continue to fly into, out of, and around Afghanistan. But how much will this cost U.S. taxpayers? A review of contracting documents obtained via federal database research sheds light on...

I have observed that the polls and the news readers have taken to reminding us that Sarah Palin's nomination spells certain defeat for the GOP in 2012. Let's examine the question of Sarah Palin's prowess as a candidate, measured against the current field: It has been noted that former Senator Rick Santorum won his Senate seat in a big GOP year (1994) and lost it big in a Democrat year (2006), sweeping in with one tide and out with another. This is evidence of weakness as a candidate. Let's examine the rest of this field, using 2006 as the barometer....

Attorney General Holder cites "disturbing" information on gas pricesBy Terry Frieden, CNN Justice Producer April 26, 2011 5:43 p.m. EDT Washington (CNN) -- Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday "there are a couple of things that are disturbing" as the government launches its oil and gas fraud task force investigation into sharply rising gasoline prices. In a meeting with reporters at the Justice Department, Holder declined to describe the "disturbing" matters, but made clear the broad investigation into potential fraud and other illegal activities would carefully comb industry information to search for wrongdoing. Holder aides say they expect announcements next...

U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday "there are a few things we can do" but "there's no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away." In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said with U.S. gasoline prices at about $4 a gallon "you see politicians racing to the cameras, waving three-point plans for two-dollar gas. You see people trying to grab headlines or score a few points." "The truth is, there's no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away," he said.

TALLAHASSEE —The day after the Florida House passed a bill to ban implementation of water quality standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration, Gov. Rick Scott on Friday asked the agency to rescind a January 2009 determination that the federal rules are necessary for Florida. Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, who chairs the House's Select Committee on Water Policy, filed HB 239, which orders the Florida DEP to ignore the EPA standards. The House passed the bill Thursday with a 90-27 vote. Twelve Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure. The U.S. EPA released pollution standards for Florida waterways...