Free Republic

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Palestinian-American activist Yousef Munayyer bitterly compared Israel to the “racist,” “nativist” and “xenophobic” Republican Party Friday on MSNBC, while criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for being “not really interested in peace.” Munayyer, an advocate against what he claims is Israeli occupation, called Netanyahu’s recent comments on the two-state solution a clear example of “a man who never misses an opportunity not to make peace,” while, per usual, not commenting on Hamas tactics of rocket fire against Israeli civilians and breaking cease-fires. Guest Andrea Mitchell Reports host Peter Alexander then asked him to discuss the state of domestic politics regarding Israel,...

As Hillary Rodham Clinton moves closer to making her campaign for president official, she now faces a deepening polarization among Jewish Democrats over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and how the United States should deal with his government.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in this week’s Israeli elections has reverberated through U.S. politics, reinforcing Republican faith in the political wisdom of a hawkish foreign policy, worsening his already bad relationship with President Obama and energizing liberal critics of Israel’s government. But mostly it has complicated the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. As she moves closer to making her campaign for president...

For those of you who watch Bret Baier every night on Fox,lately he has been asking his panel of "All Stars" to place their evening bets on the GOP and sometimes the Democrat race. Instead of betting $100.00, lets up it to $200.00 and bet on the 5 to 7 candidates for President. Odds are Cruz,Walker and Rubio will get most of the money and Hillary in the lower tier.Feel free to throw in O'Malley,Warren,Biden,Christie etc.

Note to GOP dudes: This is how to blow an election against Hillary.On the evening of September 13, 2000, after his first debate with Hillary Clinton, Rick Lazio was feeling confident. Several polls had shown the Republican congressman ahead of the first lady in the race for New York's open Senate seat, and Lazio and his team felt the debate had bolstered his lead. He wasn't alone in this view. "The post-debate conventional wisdom was clear," Michael Tomasky wrote in Hillary's Turn, his account of the contest. "Lazio had won." Even Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton's chief of staff for the...

I like Camille Paglia. She’s ornery and interesting, not subservient to the orthodoxies so stultifying to other public intellectual academic types of her acclaim. Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie did an hour-long interview with the woman herself, and the whole thing is worth a watch (Or listen, as I did, while cleaning my house. How’s that for maximizing the intellectual potential of my gender conformity?). But here, for your viewing pleasure is Paglia on Hillary Clinton, coattail rider and enabler of a sexual criminal, as she puts it without compunction. It’s worth it just for the Rock-style eyebrow lift and Gillespie’s...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush made his case to state leaders at the Georgia statehouse Thursday and waded into several thorny policy debates facing legislators as he prepares a likely run for the White House. Bush said he approved of a state push to legalize medical marijuana and gave a tacit endorsement to the Republicans behind a controversial "religious liberty" measure. He also urged lawmakers to embrace school choice legislation and talked with Gov. Nathan Deal about the Georgian's plan to give the state broad new powers to intervene in struggling schools. The likely candidate was in town as part...

COLUMBIA, S.C.—On his inaugural trip to South Carolina as a presidential candidate, Scott Walker is trying hard to show that he shares the cultural values – and tastes – of the region that serves as the heart of the modern Republican Party. He even started peppering his stump speech with some “y’all”s for the occasion. Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/scott-walker-makes-2016-south-carolina-debut-116246.html#ixzz3Usutrtiw

"Jeb couldn't be here today and you better be glad, 'cause it would have been $10,000 a plate. Cruz couldn't be here 'cause he's building a fence. ... Any Democrats here? You better be glad Scott Walker's not here, 'cause he would beat you up." The jokes are decent, as far as jokes about people running for president go. A little dad-ish, a little amateur, but not bad—they get at the essence of three Republican candidates, short and punchy, and not mean, per se, but also not not mean. If I was Senator Ted Cruz, and I heard myself described...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/03/19/4195411/early-line-3-man-race-for-2016.html

Warlords don’t have use for peace because peace doesn’t have use for warlords. Only hours after the results revealing the Likud Party’s lead in obtaining the most seats – 30 to its closest competitors’ 24 of the Zionist Union (formerly the Labor Party)– in the next Israeli Knesset (Parliament), the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the U.S. sent an email message to millions of U.S. residents congratulating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what most likely will result in his re-election for a fourth term. The announcement includes a congratulatory petition for people to sign, and states in part: “The...

In honor of the the ill-informed Starbucks' #RaceTogether, we present now another idiot Republican who is further inflaming racial tensions. First, General, why are you still in the GOP? Second, yes, there is a "dark vein of intolerance" which is best shown by these pictures.

On March 18, gun control proponent Gabby Giffords met with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) to discuss new firearm confiscation laws for the state. In August, Breitbart News reported that Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS)—the gun control group founded by Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly—began pushing temporary confiscation as part of its bid to find something that would resonate with the American people and give the group some traction. At that time, the Arizona Republic reported that ARS was pushing for “Gun Violence Restraining Orders” which would “authorize law enforcement to remove access to guns, with court oversight...

In spite of its extremism, two factors will assure a more competitive GOP in the 2016 presidential election. First is the GOP’s unified effort to appear less radical in the public’s eye. Second is the belief of Democrats, especially the Hillary crowd, of their advantage due to presidential elections which sport more young and minority voters. Related to this, Hillary’s current strength among the base puts off progressive challengers like Elizabeth Warren. The first is evidenced by the popularity of Scott Walker in New Hampshire, not a known quantity nationwide, certainly not known for his Wisconsin anti-labor, pro-business stance. He...

From the Morning Jolt: Why the Rush to Pick a Favorite in the 2016 Field? Breitbart.com’s Matt Boyle goes in to overdrive, insisting that Scott Walker is ensnared in a massive, race-changing scandal because his newly-hired strategist, Liz Mair, has… er, dual citizenship.* (Hey, if that’s a big deal, what about Ted Cruz’s former dual-citizenship status? What, is the senator some sleeper agent for the poutine menace? “The Manitoban Candidate”?) This morning, Liz Mair departed Scott Walker’s campaign – presumably not because of her dual-citizenship status than from the vocal whining from Iowa Republican Party officials over her previous mockery...

It has become perfectly clear that coastal Republicans and the GOP’s Beltway-based class of political professionals – the people who are in the business of running campaigns – are suspicious of Iowa’s caucuses and the Hawkeye State’s heelers who determine their results. The feeling is mutual. Since the Iowa GOP has compelled Scott Walker’s campaign to jettison his digital strategist simply because she said some disparaging things about Iowa’s political culture, it’s clear that this state still commands an unparalleled level of influence over both party’s presidential nominating processes. This fit of pique from Iowa-based Republicans was understandable, but it...

Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Party's nominee, and she will win the 2016 election. When you analyze the objective conditions of the Republican Party today and most likely over the next two years and compare them to Clinton's strengths, it's hard not to make such a prediction with confidence. The email flap will be gone soon enough. Short of the State Department finding some grenade of an email, the release of some 55,000 Clinton emails from the government archives is more likely to reinforce Clinton's formidable leadership and executive abilities than subtract from her decades-old image of an American...

An aide to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) likely presidential campaign resigned late Tuesday night just a day after her hire was announced. Liz Mair, who was a digital strategist for Walker, came under a storm of criticism for her advocacy for some relatively liberal policy positions and colorful tweets that critics claimed were insulting to Iowans. "In other news, I see Iowa is once again embarrassing itself, and the GOP, this morning. Thanks, guys," Mair wrote about a January event hosted by conservative Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), according to the Associated Press. "The sooner we remove Iowa's front-running status,...

While Democratic potential candidates decided not to participate in the first-ever Iowa Ag Summit, the Republican representatives expressed their viewpoints freely. Part 1 covered the participants’ positions on the Renewable Fuel Standard, while part 2 reviewed their comments on EPA’s recent decisions on Waters of the U.S. The nine potential presidential candidates who came to Des Moines earlier this month for the Iowa Ag Summit were: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, former New York Governor George Pataki,...

A veritable bevy of Republican presidential hopefuls have already hired staff, wooed deep-pocketed contributors and made speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire, proving what we already know: The 2016 nomination preseason is well underway. Fundraising, organization, the size of the field and the calendar all will play a significant role in affecting how the race unfolds. The outcome is uncertain. The current conventional wisdom is, in spite of changes intended to shorten the nominating process, the race for the GOP nomination could be more of a marathon than a sprint. The last two Republican presidential nominating fights — with John...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from 
Texas, spoke with Boston Herald Radio’s Holly 
Robichaud yesterday about his possible 
presidential run: Q: Great job up in New Hampshire. Are they loving you out there? A: I’ll tell you that the reception we received in New Hampshire has really been breathtaking. We’ve had standing-room-only crowds. ... It has been really encouraging. There’s a lot of enthusiasm. People are hungry for a leader who is willing to tell the truth and stand up and do what he said he would do. Q: Here in Massachusetts there’s a lot of us worried about...