Free Republic

Wal-Mart may be expanding in the People's Republic of China, but here in capitalist America the low-price retailer has become the Democratic Party's favorite pinata. The media like to portray this as a populist uprising... But what they don't ...disclose is that this entire get-Wal-Mart campaign is a political operation led and funded by organized labor. We've done a little digging into the two most prominent anti-Wal-Mart groups, and they might as well operate out of AFL-CIO headquarters. An outfit called Wal-Mart Watch was created by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), probably the most powerful union in America after...

In a recent commentary, former New York Mayor Ed Koch - a Democrat with at least half a brain (which makes him the leading intellectual light of his party) - asked rhetorically, "Why do so many Americans refuse to face the fact that our country is at war with international terrorism?" Because they're liberals? During the Spanish Civil War, as the climactic battle for Madrid approached, Nationalist leader Francisco Franco told a reporter: "I have four columns marching on Madrid and a fifth within the city ready to rise at my call." Franco's comment gave rise to the World War...

The Democratic Party of the United States is in decline. That is a simple fact, yet one which the Democrats continue to deny, at least in public. This, frankly, risks an out and out tailspin, but that is the way of desperation, I suppose. Of course, the Left – which is presently in firm control, if not command, of the Donkapalooza which spews forth such notables as Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Al Gore – has at its reach the means to change its direction and fortunes, and in private the Democrats are trying to do just that. It must...

Ex-U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that the thought of California Rep. Nancy Pelosi becoming the next leader of the House and being third in line to the presidency is frightening. "The prospect of her bringing San Francisco values and a whole attitude on foreign policy that is, I think, an attitude of weakness and appeasement and surrender, I think, would be a disaster for the country," the outspoken Republican said. Gingrich said keeping power out of the hands of Pelosi, the House minority leader, and other Democrats is one of the reasons he was in South Carolina this...

by Mark Finkelstein August 31, 2006 - 08:06 To judge by the outraged defense of Democrats and the MSM that Matt Lauer and Tim Russert advanced on this morning's Today show, the Bush administration's arguments on fighting the war on terror are hitting home. NBC reporter Kelly O'Donnell set the tone with this little shot at the president: "While the president has cautioned not to politicize what he is talking about, he was greeted here in Salt Lake by 2,000 invited members of the public who carried signs, there was music playing - a campaign-style event - and we were...

When Democratic Party leaders "found God in the 2004 exit polls," as Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. likes to say, no one expected instant results. Many of the party's early efforts to attract religious voters, after all, were scattershot and not a little awkward. No one knew quite what the "faith staffer"—a new breed of legislative aide—was supposed to do, and random-seeming insertions of Bible verses into floor speeches came off as Tourette's syndrome for Democrats. In the longer run, though, the new focus on forming relationships with religious communities and voters has been the right move for a...

A leading anti-war Democrat is criticizing Senator Hillary Clinton on her stance on the war in Iraq. Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha has been an outspoken critic of the war. Last year he called on the Bush administration to immediately withdraw American troops. Now in an interview airing tonight on NY1’s “Inside City Hall,” Murtha is turning his tough talk on Clinton. “I have been disappointed. I've been disappointed she hasn't spoken out more forcefully. She's a leader in the Democratic Party -- she's probably going to be the nominee for president next year,” said Murtha. Asked whether Clinton would make...

According to a new biography of Dan Rather, one longtime CBSer -- no, not Rather himself -- believes what most NewsBusters readers believe: that incoming CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is in the tank for Hillary Clinton. In his review of Alan Weisman's Lone Star, Dave Shiflett of Bloomberg News writes that: [f]ormer [CBS] congressional correspondent Phil Jones tells Weisman that Couric is "a liberal Democrat who is so in love with Hillary Clinton'' that it could pose a problem if Clinton runs for president. We're left believing that Rather's critics will soon be pining for the good old...

John Kasich is filling in for O'Reilly and has Dan Senor in studio and former marine, Iraq War vet, and failed Democratic candidate Paul Hackett on via satellite. After asking Dan about pulling out early from Iraq ("redeployment" in Dem-speak), and listening to Dan's very benign opinion, John goes to Hackett who immediately launches into an unprovoked name-calling/smearing of Dan Senor! This guy wanted to be a Congressman? Unbeleivable!

$23,700. That is the household income level at which a white person became more likely to vote for a Republican over a Democrat in congressional races in 2004. That's $5,000 above the poverty line for a family of four, less than half the median income of the typical voting household of all races, and an emphatic repudiation of all things Democratic among the white middle class. Obtaining a sustainable Democratic majority in either house will be impossible unless there is a significant change in this economic tipping point. To solve this problem, Democrats must first realize that they have a...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2006 CONTACT: Brendan Daly 202-226-7616 Pelosi Statement on Rumsfeld Remarks Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to Secretary Rumsfeld’s remarks he made yesterday to the American Legion convention in Salt Lake City: "Secretary Rumsfeld's efforts to smear critics of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy are a pathetic attempt to shift the public's attention from his repeated failure to manage the conduct of the war competently. If Mr. Rumsfeld is so concerned with comparisons to World War II, he should explain why our troops have now been...

Last week, Sen. George Allen personally apologized to a staff member of his Democrat opponent, James Webb, for calling him a "macaca." This was the latest in a string of public apologies for what has been described as a racial slur aimed at individual who is of Indian descent. The moral outrage pouring from the media and Democrats was heartwarming. It was reassuring to see that such expressions of bigotry by any party, politician or political organization (or movie actor) will not be tolerated. So no doubt the media and the Left will soon turn their attention to the vicious...

Democratic 'lock'? "Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman Charles B. Rangel and Chairman -- again -- John D. Dingell. Those titles will soon sound familiar," Bloomberg columnist Albert R. Hunt declared yesterday. "Barring an unexpected and big event, Democrats will win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November and conceivably the Senate, too. Whether it's a tsunami or just a powerful wave, the political dynamics are moving in that direction, or more accurately, against the Republicans and President George W. Bush," Mr. Hunt said. "Democratic insiders, who months ago thought their chances of winning a majority in the House were...

University of New Hampshire administrators are standing behind a tenured professor who has publicly theorized that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, even as Gov. John Lynch condemned his remarks. Calling psychology professor William Woodward's theory "completely crazy and offensive," the governor said in a statement yesterday that he plans to address his concerns with the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees. "Although academic freedom is important," the governor said, "if the UNH professor is promoting that view, it reflects a reckless disregard for the true facts and raises questions as to why such...

Democrats declare war ... on themselves "This schism within the Democratic Party is the most interesting thing to happen in American politics in decades, because due to a system error, people have temporarily been allowed back into what had been a totally closed process. They're working round the clock to fix the loophole, though, because the Emmanuels of the world know what's coming if they don't. The firing squad. And this time it won't be in a circle." – Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com Posted on August 23, 2006 The writer is referring to Rahm Emanuel, the chief fund-raiser for Congressional Democrats....

As the November election approaches and Democrats from John Murtha to John Kerry to Howard Dean to Ned Lamont claim that the Bush administration’s policies to combat terrorism and to conduct the war in Iraq have failed, we still don’t know what exactly the Democrats would do. While Democrats constantly claim that the administration doesn’t have “a plan,” it doesn’t appear that they have a plan either. Maybe theirs is a “secret” plan. As a regular viewer of the O’Reilly Factor, I’ve watched time and time again as Bill O’Reilly has asked Democratic strategists, operatives and politicians just what, specifically,...

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman Charles Rangel and Chairman -- again -- John Dingell. Those titles will soon sound familiar. Whiney Bloomberg copyright link

You can't turn a page or flip a channel without hearing how the Bush Administration's policies toward the Iraqi conflict are wrong. Or, as the loser of the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry, espoused, "profoundly wrong." What no one wants to consider is whether or not these critics have the qualifications to so recklessly opine. During a recent press conference, President Bush passionately reiterated his stance on the Iraqi conflict. He alluded to the notion that the continuous bombardment of the American people with negative news by the mainstream media -- and the irresponsible rhetoric of the anti-war left --...

David Horowitz and Richard Poe expose the unwritten partnership between Soros and Hillary. The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party by David Horowitz & Richard Poe Nelson Current (August 2006) Hdbk., 304 pgs To condemn as false the entirety of the Left’s attacks on their opponents, the past, our culture, and capitalism is to somewhat overstate the case as, amid the sweltering cauldron of fabrication which so often is their argumentation, a few gray areas exist wherein the rhetoric is more true than false. Perhaps the best example of one...