Free Republic

Nothing surprising here but the quotes are oh so tasty. Including one that comes, secondhand, from Paul himself. Is that what the last month of Russia-bashing and Tomahawk-praising was all about? Is Rand … “evolving” on foreign policy? The [Republican Jewish Coalition] conference brings together some of the biggest names — and wallets — in Republican politics, most notably billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. At a private dinner for VIP donors in an Adelson-owned aircraft hangar holding one of his pair of Boeing 747s, Bush was asked about the growing isolationist wing of the Republican Party and replied there was...

With an eye on 2016, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton is stepping up his Super PAC game. The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations raised over $800,000 in 2013 and is looking to make a big splash in the second quarter of this year when he'll announce endorsements. “We had a very, very good March,” Bolton said in an exclusive interview Monday, referring to fundraising numbers that still aren't public. “We've got criteria and we're evaluating candidates to support,” he added. The hawkish Bolton isn't exactly coy about where this is headed. “I don't rule...

THE COMMON wisdom holds that the GOP 2016 presidential race will boil down to a joust between the “establishment” and the “insurgents.” The former will allegedly be more moderate and the latter more conservative. Since most polls for two decades have shown that around two-thirds to 70 percent of self-described Republicans call themselves conservative, this elite narrative will focus on just how much the establishment candidate will need to be pulled to the right in order to fend off his insurgent challenger. And since the Tea Party has clearly become a vocal and powerful insurgent element in the GOP, the...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2014 — The third and final day of CPAC brought everything full circle. Most of Radio Row leaves after Friday, and the vendors pack up early Saturday afternoon. Yet all is not quiet on the CPAC front. Two events conclude the event, one meaningful and one meaningless. The meaningful event is the keynote speech. In recent years, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have brought the crowd to its feet with rousing closing remarks. This year offered Sarah Palin as the grand finale. The meaningless event is the straw poll, won virtually every year by retired congressman and...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Darren Wolfe gave this presentation at the Citizens for Liberty meeting on August 20, 2013 near Norristown, Pennsylvania. Below are links to source material so readers can do their own research and come to their own conclusions. Many of the quotes used in the presentation are parts of essays or speeches that are well worth reading start to finish. This first series of quotes is from John Trenchard's 1697 book “An Argument Shewing, that a Standing Army is inconsistent with a Free Government, and absolutely destructive to the Constitution of the English Monarchy” (http://www.reformation.org/john-trenchard.pdf): And if we enquire how these...

In 2011, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – Nev.) went before a joint session of the Nevada State Legislature to call for “an adult conversation” about prostitution in the state. “Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment – not as the last place where prostitution is still legal,” he said in a speech delivered to the Nevada Legislature. “We should do everything we can to make sure the world holds Nevada in the same high regard you and I do,” Reid continued. “If we want to attract business to Nevada that puts...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Thursday that the Obama administration will not be releasing any more information about the controversial use of drones to kill American citizens. Carney’s remarks, via the White House’s transcript of the off-camera press gaggle: “This is not an open-ended process. This is a specific and unique accommodation in this circumstance. The fact is, when it comes to public disclosure, we have been — not with the kind of attention that’s been given it this week — but we have been publicly discussing these matters at the highest levels of government for the...

Journalist Jeremy Scahill and filmmaker Oliver Stone believe that, on issues of civil liberties and warfare, President Obama has entirely abandoned his 2008 rhetoric. And they see MSNBC and stars like Bill Maher as the biggest cheerleaders for such abrogations. The two well-known men of the left appeared Saturday at the 2014 Students For Liberty Conference (ISFLC), on a panel entitled “Imperial Overreach and the National Security State,” sponsored by the libertarian Future of Freedom Foundation. They were joined by Stone’s co-author Peter Kuznick, with Newseum vice chairman Shelby Coffey moderating. While lamenting the “expanding warfare state” in America, both...

I realize that all presidential polls this far out from election day are hot garbage but there’s no way I’m missing an opportunity to troll my Huck-hating readership as golden as this one. Two words, my friends: Huckabee/Christie?Although Huck’s now technically the GOP frontrunner, he’s not the pol with the highest favorable rating among Republicans. That’d be Sarah Palin, who’s at 70/20 and has the highest numbers among both women and men. PPP didn’t offer her as an option in its presidential polling, presumably because they think she’s unlikely to run. Following the controversy over his ‘Uncle Sugar’ speech Mike...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Neal Boortz, subbing for Sean Hannity on his radio show on the day after Christmas, took the opportunity to unload a heap of libertarian wrath upon social conservatives, saying that Republicans will not win another election if they continue ”screaming and yelling about abortion, about gay rights, about prayer in school.” Boortz spat the words “social conservative Republicans” into the airwaves as he railed against (some unnamed) Republicans who, apparently “obsessed” with social issues, are running around the country raging against the forces trying to take prayer out of school. Boortz seemed particularly upset with Republicans who want to peer...

You may have heard that Tim Draper hopes to convince Californians to separate their state into six pieces. The plan is the latest attempt by Silicon Valley to separate itself from the rest of California, where mentally ill people have the gall to clutter streets paved in alternative currencies and Series As and which lead to startup employees’ lavish home-away-from-homes (bought at obscene prices in an overheated hot real estate market). Draper’s proposal would see the formation of six new states: Jefferson, North California, Central California, Silicon Valley, West California, and South California. In his vision, counties would be able...

In an address to the Heritage Foundation entitled “What’s Next for Conservatives”, Senator Mike Lee said, “The conservative vision for America is not an Ayn Rand novel. It’s a Norman Rockwell painting, or a Frank Capra movie: a nation ‘of plain, ordinary kindness, and a little looking out for the other fellow, too.’” The comment, which received little attention when it was made back in October, harkens back to a traditional conservatism that stressed the importance of local institutions and relationships as a source of strength. As innocuous as that might seem to most conservatives, the mildly unfavorable comparison of...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20131122/NEWS09/311220100/?odyssey=nav%7Chead

"Learn a little bit more about how business has been done in the Congress of the United States.” Those were the words of advice given by senior Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to junior Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) during last May’s debt ceiling debate. It’s a provocative suggestion, considering that traditional congressional business practices have led us into almost $17 trillion in debt, unfunded liabilities several times that amount and a congressional approval rating that hovers around 9 percent. Business as usual in Washington has failed the American people, and it’s time to clean house. In the corporate world, a “takeover”...

It is no wonder that with Christie’s 22.5 point reelection victory in the New Jersey governor’s race on Tuesday the national press has christened him a star. Other than Christie, there is not one political adult being mentioned as a serious candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential primaries. Rand Paul values property rights over civil rights, which should be reversed. Ted Cruz wants to close the federal government and seal the boarder from immigrants, which is odd for a Canadian. And Rick Santorum. Enough said. Truth be told, the GOP has not fielded many attractive candidates of late. ---snip--- Here...

During the pre-Palin days of the Tea Party Movement, the idea of a conservative third party was often discussed. Since the Tampa Purge of 2012, many have revisited this idea, most recently Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation. A third party dedicated only to freedom and limited government has been attempted several times, and we do have the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party, though like the Green Party, they have been restricted to local politics, and often lack ballot access. This period of American history is marked by a large, oppressive, and violent federal government. We have many factions...

This past week I was over on Officer.com trying to convince some hot-headed, patriot-hating young cops that the Constitution is actually the law of the land. I failed. One of them refers to open carriers as “attention whores.” I was denounced as a traitor to law enforcement for insisting that gun owners actually have rights that LEO’s are legally and morally bound to respect. It got me thinking about the great gulf that separates the law enforcement profession that I knew as compared to the one that exists today. I never thought I’d be one of those geezers that says,...

In a recent poll of Alaska voters, George Zimmerman -- who was recently acquitted in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin -- got a surprising 2 percent support as a hypothetical Republican presidential candidate. The newest Alaska survey from Public Policy Polling shows Hillary Clinton's only chance of winning the state in 2016 would be in a matchup against Republican Sarah Palin, where Clinton would lead 49/40 percent. Clinton trails all other Republican candidates in the survey. Out in front, Chris Christie leads her by 8 points at 46/38, Jeb Bush leads at 49/42, Rand Paul is up...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK Sarah Palin rejoined Fox News as a contributor earlier this month, indicating that the polarizing former Alaska governor and Vice Presidential candidate remains a powerful voice in the conservative landscape. Is she beneficial to conservatives and the Republican Party, or does she do more harm than good? Sarah Palin is undeniably useful and important as a face of the conservative movement. She is ineffective and even detrimental as the face of the conservative movement. Unfortunately, that's exactly what she became when John McCain selected her as his running mate in 2008: the face of the GOP...

Are you ready for the great Sarah Palin Revival of 2013? The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate is back from her exile at Fox News and, like the former child star played by Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, the self-described Mama Grizzly is ready for a big comeback. But, to be blunt, she seems more like a relic of a bygone, little-missed era in showbiz-cum-politics. Indeed, she no more represents a viable future for the GOP than her 76-year-old “angry bird” running mate, John McCain.To give her full credit, Palin is talking what sounds...