Free Republic

In the summer of 1992, Rush Limbaugh saved me from myself. I was an 18-year-old high school graduate about to begin college, too impatient to wait for adulthood to come to me. So instead, I went in search of it the only way I knew how: by engulfing myself in presidential politics and the fascinating campaigns that summer between Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot. Like many idealistic teens, I was at first drawn to the youthful Clinton campaign and Fleetwood Mac's cheerful command to "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." But then I started listening to Limbaugh and it...

Donald Trump says a lot of things a lot of people consider outrageous. What is he doing? The first thing to remember is that many of Trump's supporters, and a large part of the American public in general, support the very statements others consider outrageous. Deport 11 million illegal immigrants? Many Americans, including almost everyone in the media, think that's crazy. But many other Americans agree with Trump. The recent brouhaha over whether Trump did or did not suggest a federal government database of all Muslims in the United States is another example. Trump didn't actually suggest it - the...

As has been made abundantly clear by his incessant mewling and pathetically thin skin, Donald J. Trump is not in fact an unwaveringly resolute tough guy of the type you would hope to find standing next to you in the trenches, but an insecure attention seeker who cannot help but pander to his audiences' prejudices. In the past few days, Trump has been asked variously whether, if elected, he would use his power to close mosques; whether he believes that Muslims should be registered in a special government database; and whether or not it would be a good idea to...

"......Trump's twofer-attacking Carson's faith and character-reveals his glaring blind spots. No candidate should ever, ever attack an evangelical for his faith in Iowa, of all places. Iowa is home to a hugely influential evangelical community that won't particularly warm to a candidate who implies Seventh Day Adventists are members of some wacko cult. Carson has great appeal to the evangelical community. Although the percentage of Iowans who are evangelical Christians is about one in four,...they represent nearly 60 percent of the Republican caucus turnout.........It is ironic that Trump, who is a long-time member of the Presbyterian Church USA, would indirectly...