Free Republic

SAMUEL Augustus Maverick, Texas rancher of the 1840s, is proudly sitting up in his grave. His name, which has become an eponymous American word, was cited repeatedly at last week’s unexpectedly enthusiastic Republican convention. “I’ve been called a maverick,” John McCain told his rounded-up party. “Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment; sometimes it’s not.” True enough: old Sam Maverick’s friends said he refused to brand his cattle because it was cruel to animals; competing ranchers said it let him round up and claim all the unbranded cattle in the neighborhood. In an era that has sophisticates displaying designers’ initials, the...

Folks--I was trying to put into words the chemistry I see between John McCain and Sarah Palin when they are together. And it just came to me. Sarah is John's wingman. She flies next to him and protects him. He fights for her, and she fights for him. She does what is necessary for him to successfully complete his mission. As a former Naval Aviator, McCain knows the importance of an excellent wingman. As a novice pilot, Palin has shown that she is a natural.

In this election year, "change" has been the catnip of the liberals. It renders them blissful. Change will put an end to the dominance of American politics by the "Washington insiders." And the instrumentality of that "change" will be a first-term senator of unassailable probity, Sen. Barack H. Obama, who curiously enough began his career a decade ago in Chicago as a cog in the political machine of Mayor Richard Daley. To the critics' charges that Prophet Obama is short on experience, his supporters respond that he has enormous experience, which is obviously untrue. Also, he has chosen as his...

John MCain intoned some things in his speech last night conservatives need to be very weary of. His tone and talk about "not working for any party" was a little shot at republicans and conservatives alike. We all understand McCain is not a conservative, but he is within the party and if he doesn't think conservatives and the republican party work for the people of this county then he needs to be kicked out of this party! Partisanship is a boon to this country. You have to argue vehemently to get your points across and hopefully convince a majority of...

Surprisingly dull given the frenzy of Barracudamania, but then the point isn’t to build her up so much as it is to tear The One down. They’ve got a second contrast ad coming later today focusing on their comparative experience. The one virtue of having the media spin her as dangerously unqualified, of course, is that it leaves McCain wide open for ads like this, treating Barry to a little vicarious ridicule for his absurdly thin record. Something like 70 percent of voters say the VP candidates won’t affect their votes in November; if Palin is deemed too green to...

Here is the latest ad from the McCain camp. Pretty effective I think using the words of leading Dems to praise McCain. The best part comes at the end from Hillary, "I know Senator McCain has a life time of experience that he will bring to the White House and Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002." Ouch. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSpcxkKlEFA

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain is so quick to pick up his gold-colored cellphone to solicit advice — from senators, campaign consultants, even the stray former deputy press secretary — that aides, concerned about his tendency to adopt the last opinion he has heard, have tried to cut back on the time he has to make calls.

The Democrats' acrimonious primary battle came back to haunt Hillary Clinton yesterday, a day before she sets off on her first solo campaign swing for Barack Obama, with John McCain using footage of her attacking the Democratic candidate in a new campaign ad. The ad, which was released on the internet, features a number of Democratic leaders - including Obama - offering praise for McCain. But only Clinton, who is the closing speaker, goes so far as to take a jab at Obama, in footage culled from one of her primary rallies. The ad surfaced a day before Clinton is...

Enjoy!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBsRbMimtlA

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry blasted presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain for using video clips of Democrats’ past praise of McCain in a web-only campaign commercial released Thursday morning. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, called the Arizona senator “unrecognizable” and said he had “changed overnight.” In painting McCain as a maverick, the ad features a series of Democrats — Kerry, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, Sen. Russell Feingold and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. — talking up the Republican nominee as a bipartisan deal-maker and all-around good guy. Daschle: “He can work...

In an effort to highlight his "maverick" history of bipartisianship, John McCain has released this campaign ad. The ad features prominent democratic leaders praising McCain for his courage, honesty, and ability to reach across the aisle. http://election.newsmax.com/mccain_praise.html?s=al&promo_code=6772-1

John McCain's message machine shifted gears today -- after a week or so of offbeat efforts to annoy and exasperate Barack Obama, the Republican's campaign launched a new bid to distance himself from the titular head of his own party. A 60-second McCain television ad airing in several of this year's key battleground states seeks to both remind voters of the "maverick" image that gained him national prominence and undercut arguments that he's a President Bush clone. Indeed, the spot's third sentence offers this starkly negative assessment of the incumbent's second term: "We’re worse off than we were four years...

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 30 -- Sen. John McCain last week delivered one of his sharpest critiques yet of Sen. Barack Obama's Iraq policies, carefully reading a prepared speech that accused his Democratic rival of failing the commander-in-chief test and promoting ideas that would force American troops to "retreat under fire." But just hours after his crisp performance, the Republican presidential candidate blurred his own message with an offhand comment to a television interviewer that Obama's proposal for a 16-month time frame for removing combat troops from Iraq might be a "pretty good timetable." That seemed to run counter to...

Maverick discovers that MSM libs are not his “friends” By Michelle Malkin • July 21, 2008 02:50 PM You know, there’s only one word that describes the proper reaction to the McCain camp feeling aggrieved about the NYTimes’ rejection of The Maverick’s op-ed piece: Snort. Now, now, now–after years of chumming it up with the lib journalists and basking in the “maverick” designation–does Sen. McCain finally realize that these people are not his “friends?”

Senator John McCain was all but a sworn enemy of Senator Trent Lott, the former Republican leader. Mr. Lott had quashed Mr. McCain’s most cherished legislative goals. And, worse, Mr. McCain believed that in the 2000 Republican primaries, Mr. Lott had spread rumors about his colleague’s mental stability on behalf of his rival for the nomination, George W. Bush. --snip-- Over the next eight years, he mastered the art of political triangulation — variously teaming up with Mr. Lott against the president or the new Republican leaders, with Democrats against Republicans, and with the president against the Democrats — to...

Stop sending me stuff. It's because of your "maverick" behavior that we are in the condition we are in. You stabbed a great President in the back on numerous occassions. You, and the gang of 14 rendered our congressional majority into a bunch of eunuchs, singing soprano for the media and the beltway crowd. I'll probably be forced to vote for you, given the alternatives, however, just barely and only because you may not totally screw us on judges. Meanwhile, leave me alone.

This is a serious question and I respectfully ask for serious, thoughtful responses from the most ardent McCain detractors and not the casually disgusted. If you are only casually disgusted, please refrain from mucking up the thread and allow only the truly bulemic to air their rationale. I am not a McCain supporter, never have been probably never will be. That he will be the eventual GOP nominee is all but assured and that I might find I must vote for him if only to counter an Obama or Clinton administration, well, that's my decision and one I hope you...

Excerpt - LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor James Garner, best known for starring in the classic television series "Maverick" and "The Rockford Files," underwent surgery this week after suffering a minor stroke, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Garner, 80, who built a six-decade career playing ruggedly charming, good-natured anti-heroes, suffered a stroke at home last Friday and was admitted to a Los Angeles-area hospital, publicist Jennifer Allen said. The actor underwent surgery on Sunday, and his prognosis following the operation was described as "very positive," Allen said, adding that Garner's vital signs were good and that he was conscious and...

Republicans in the U.S. Congress are petrified about a November debacle, a fear stoked on May 3, when they lost their second straight special election in a district held by Republicans. The party's fundamental situation is terrible: Republicans are saddled with an enormously unpopular president, a war, a troubled economy and a Democratic opposition that's being energized by important constituent groups. "The generics are as bad as anytime since I have been here," said Representative Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican and one of the most politically astute members of Congress in either party. Davis, a 14-year veteran, is retiring this...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faces enormous pressure from social conservatives to ignore his repeated commitment to change the GOP's platform on abortion. "If he were to change the party platform," to account for exceptions such as rape, incest or risk to the mother's life, "I think that would be political suicide," said Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, to ABC News. "I think he would be aborting his own campaign because that is such a critical issue to so many Republican voters and the Republican brand is already in trouble." A senior Republican close to McCain...

Neither did Glenn, neither did I. (I didn’t vote.) Granted, she’s a buffoon and a completely unreliable witness, but … do we maybe want to force ourselves to believe this one?"At a dinner party in Los Angeles not long after the 2000 election, I was talking to a man and his wife, both prominent Republicans. The conversation soon turned to the new president. “I didn’t vote for George Bush” the man confessed. “I didn’t either,” his wife added. Their names: John and Cindy McCain (Cindy told me she had cast a write-in vote for her husband). "The fact that this...

RUSH: In the first hour of the program -- and I want to go through some of this again, because it's crucially important. As you know, the North Carolina Republican Party has an ad. They are not going to pull the ad. It is an ad that is... Its intent is to cause doubt among North Carolina voters about the Democrat gubernatorial candidates. It uses sound bites from the Reverend Wright. Here is that ad. FEMALE ANNOUNCER: For 20 years, Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor. WRIGHT (screaming): And then wants us to sing God Bless...

RUSH: Here is the ad that will run -- by the way, Reuters had a story yesterday that the North Carolina Republican Party pulled this ad. They have not pulled the ad. I don't know who told Reuters this or if Reuters just made it up, but they have not pulled the ad. It is going to run Monday. We have seen to it, though, that even if they do pull it, it's going to air. They're not going to pull it, and McCain is fit to be tied. Here is the ad in question, the North Carolina Republican Party...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans are no longer underdogs in the race for the White House. To pull that off, John McCain has attracted disgruntled GOP voters, independents and even some moderate Democrats who shunned his party last fall. Partly thanks to an increasingly likable image, the Republican presidential candidate has pulled even with the two Democrats still brawling for their party's nomination, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo news poll released Thursday. Just five months ago - before either party had winnowed its field - the survey showed people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain promised on Saturday to cooperate with his Democratic rivals if he is elected president, despite deep divisions between the two parties. "Despite the increasing harshness of our debates, and the lack of respect it often occasions for each side's good will, I still believe we can and must come together on issues that cannot be addressed without our cooperation," McCain said in a speech in Prescott, Arizona, the last stop on his biographical tour over the past week. "Let us argue with each other then. By all means, let us argue....

Now, for the past two days, I have been lamenting the fact that the Republican Party is officially -- well, not officially yet, but people behind the scenes at the RNC are leaking this without attribution, they're deeply strategerizing how to criticize Obama without running the risk of being accused of racism and bigotry and all of that, which is another reason why I want to extend Hillary's run here so that Obama gets bloodied up because it's apparent that the Republicans aren't going to bloody him up. In fact, yesterday in the opening monologue, I repeated, reprised the question...

You can't read a story about John McCain without seeing the word "maverick." But is it true? Now that John McCain is the all-but-certain Republican nominee for president, there is one thing we know for sure about how the general election will play out: The Democrat is going to be at a serious disadvantage in the media. This will be true even if that nominee is Barack Obama, who has gotten better coverage thus far than Hillary Clinton. Reporters find his candidacy a compelling story, but that attraction has its limitations. When it comes to John McCain, however, it's pure...

Less then a week after saying he has heard the American people regarding illegal immigration and their opposition to the McCain-Kennedy Pro-Amnesty bill, John McCain would still SIGN THE BILL into law if he was President and it came across his desk: (VIDEO) This explains his receiving the endorsement of fellow Pro-Amnestians, Senator Mel Martinez, (who almost single-handedly bankrupted the RNC with his support of the bill), the NY Times, Florida Governor Charlie Crist and of the Mexico-first pro-amnesty open borders advocate Dr. Juan Hernandez. “My friends", let me give you some “straight talk", a vote for John McCain is...

The New York Times has endorsed John McCain and Hillary Clinton for the GOP and Democratic presidential nominations, respectively.

Steve Scully: This is a political question in terms of how he gets the nomination, but just from what you have seen, how much support do you think he has among the base of the Republican Party? Roberta McCain: I don’t think he has any. I don’t know what the base of the Repub–maybe I don’t know enough about it, but I’ve not seen any help whatsoever. Scully: So can he then go on and become the nominee of this party? McCain: Yes, I think holding their nose they’re going to have to take him. Scully: Can you explain? McCain:...

“Front-runner.” “Winner.” “Inevitable.” Since Saturday’s South Carolina primary, this is how the mainstream media have been describing Sen. John McCain and his bid for the GOP nomination. And once again, the mainstream media is wrong. John McCain isn’t “inevitable.” He’s not even “likely” at this point in the race. To see why, just look at his vote totals from the primaries thus far. John McCain is the incredible shrinking candidate. In 2000, McCain was just another senator running as a maverick against the GOP establishment’s legacy candidate, George W. Bush. His huge 49 percent to 30 percent clobbering of Bush...

In 2004, one of John McCain's closest associates, John Weaver, spoke to John Kerry about the possibility of McCain running as Kerry's vice presidential running mate. In "No Excuses," Bob Shrum's memoir of his role in numerous presidential campaigns, including Kerry's, Shrum writes that Weaver assured Kerry that "McCain was serious about the possibility of teaming up with him," and Kerry approached McCain. He, however, was more serious about seeking the 2008 Republican nomination. But was it unreasonable for Kerry to think McCain might be comfortable on a Democratic ticket? Not really. In ABC's New Hampshire debate, McCain said: "Why...

Since his win in New Hampshire, many have come to view John McCain as the Republican frontrunner. He has a lead in the RCP national average, and he is the favorite at InTrade's future's market. I think this talk is a bit hasty. Most obviously, McCain and Romney are tied in Michigan - and the polls over the last three weeks have been largely conditioned by who has won. So, who knows how the Michigan results will influence South Carolina and the rest of the nation. There is another reason I am hesitant about this bandwagon. I think that the...

Saenz expands administration to reflect changing role of agency AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Texas Department of Transportation today announced selections for the final three members of Executive Director Amadeo Saenz's leadership team. The new Assistant Executive Director for Engineering Operations is John Barton of Beaumont. The newly-formed office of Assistant Executive Director for District Operations will be lead by David Casteel of San Antonio. The newly-formed office of Assistant Executive Director for Innovative Project Development will be lead by Phil Russell of Austin. "John, David and Phil are all outstanding professionals," said Saenz. "All of them understand...

At the front of a quiet, dimly-lit auditorium inside Weatherford High School Thursday, Gov. Rick Perry and other friends eulogized the late Ric Williamson. Perry borrowed a quote from author Jonathan Swift to describe Williamson, who, as chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, was often at the center of controversy. “When a genius comes into the word, you will know him by this sign: that the dunces are all in confederacy against him,� Perry recited. “Jonathan Swift didn’t know Ric Williamson, but he pegged him.� Williamson, 55, was pronounced dead on Sunday after suffering an apparent heart attack while at...

Push for higher gas tax could follow chief's death The death of Ric Williamson, the fiery, whip-smart chairman of the state transportation commission, could upend the still-roiling debate over toll roads in Texas in the new year. Mr. Williamson died Saturday of a heart attack at age 55, sending shock waves through the nearly 15,000-employee department he led as well as the political and policy circles where his combative style and pro-toll-road agenda had engendered enormous change – and criticism. Always careful to credit Gov. Rick Perry, a close friend and former roommate, Mr. Williamson emerged as a lightning rod...

As chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, Ric Williamson made major and often controversial decisions about the future of state roads. He died Sunday of a heart attack, at age 55, in his hometown of Weatherford, leaving a legacy as the hard-charging official that steered Gov. Rick Perry's divisive vision of toll roads across Texas into state policy. It was stressful work, and Mr. Williamson suffered two heart attacks while serving. He had known his health was fragile. "I'm trying to avoid the third one, which the doctors tell me will be fatal," he told Texas Monthly in a June...

How did Sen. John McCain, the onetime front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, come to this? New polls this week showed support for him plummeting in two key early-voting states. Tied for fifth place in Iowa, with 6 percent. Falling to fourth place in South Carolina, with 7 percent. Mason-Dixon Polling & Research conducted both polls of likely Republican voters, which had error margins of plus or minus 5 percentage points. This after an ongoing Senate debate on immigration that highlights McCain's opposition to his party's base on a hot-button issue, and the informal entry into the race of former...

Map reveals secret of awesome Mavericks waves 17:27 19 April 2007 NewScientist.com news service Phil McKenna Seafloor map showing a long narrow ramp leading up to the Mavericks break (in black box) off Half Moon Bay in Central California. Blue = deep water, Red = shallow water, White = break zone (Image: Seafloor Mapping Lab, California State University, Monterey Bay)Rikk Kvitek, director of the Seafloor Mapping Lab at California State University-Monterey Bay Center for Habitat Studies at Moss Landing Marine Labs California Coast State Waters Mapping Project Images of the seafloor at Mavericks The magnificent waves in Half Moon Bay...

WASHINGTON - When it comes to the presidency, the Republican Party has a long tradition of nominating the next guy in line. That's John McCain - and the failed GOP presidential aspirant of 2000 is positioning himself as the anointed 2008 nominee. Yet, a full year before the first primary contests, the Republican race is anything but wrapped up. The Arizona senator who once reveled in his reputation for bucking the party line is now running as the establishment candidate, but he faces serious challenges from Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. "Right now,...

Opinion special: Lone voices in science 09 December 2006 In this special series of premium articles, we look at these lone voices and what they have brought to our understanding of the world. Harry Collins (see How we know what we know) and Bob Park (see Watch out for the UFOs) start by offering their ideas on how to distinguish true genius from the ravings of a crank. We then speak to five people who represent very different kinds of outsider: a star who led the pack (David Deutsch, free feature: At play in the multiverse); a non-scientist making bigger...

The Maverick!

A key Senate Republican is calling on the Bush administration to work for an immediate cease-fire in the conflict between Israeli forces and the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militants. Senator Chuck Hagel Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is calling on President Bush to appoint a special envoy to the Middle East. He suggested former secretaries of state Colin Powell and James Baker would be good candidates for the post. In a speech on the Senate floor Monday, Hagel urged the Bush administration to do something it has so far refused: engage Syria and...

A blog is media. Its a platform to communicate that can reach anyone within reach of an internet connection. Ive been writing this blog for more than 2 years and that time has allowed me to recognize the difference between a blog and traditional media and why the two will never successfully meet. In traditional media, you are first defined by your medium. There is some constraint to the physical or digital definition of the medium the content is delivered on or by, that for the most part determines how you are perceived. There is a cost vs time vs...

The surest sign that Stanley Hiller Jr. was just a kid when he designed the first helicopter to fly successfully in the Western United States was the field on which he chose to test it in 1944: the football stadium of UC Berkeley. A novice helicopter pilot, he learned to fly the bright-yellow contraption dubbed the Hiller-copter while it was anchored to several cars. He wore what might pass for safety gear among 19-year-olds: a T-shirt and slacks.

ST. PAUL - A Republican state representative who worked for Tim Pawlenty's 2002 gubernatorial campaign has purchased the online domain name "mccain-pawlenty.com," with his eyes trained not on Pawlenty's re-election bid this year but on 2008. Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, said he plunked down the $12 on his own, to foil Internet "squatters" who buy up domain names that may be valuable in the future. "I wasn't asked to do it, I wasn't told to do it," he said Friday. But it comes in a week where Pawlenty and Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who's a leading 2008 presidential...

MORENO VALLEY, Calif. - Herbert L. Strock, a television producer and director who directed such B-movies as "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein," "How to Make a Monster" and "The Crawling Hand," has died. He was 87. Strock died Wednesday of heart failure at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley following a car accident, according to his daughter, Leslie Mitchner. In a television career that began in the 1940s, Strock worked on series including "Highway Patrol," "Sky King," "Sea Hunt," "Maverick" and "77 Sunset Strip." His creature features included "Blood of Dracula" and "Gog," shot in 3-D. "He was...

Sadly, Coburn's Pork-Busting Is Rebuked Oklahoman Editorial SEN. Tom Coburn recently sent out a "Dear Colleague" letter to fellow senators, questioning the basis for pork barrel spending when there are more pressing priorities. Last week he got his answer: Shut up. By wide margins, the Oklahoma Republican's attempts to trim millions of dollars from the aptly named "THUD" appropriation -- for the Treasury, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments -- were slam-dunked by senators more concerned with bringing home the bacon than looking out for the taxpayers. Coburn's chief target was a good chunk of the $223 million earmarked...

As the Supreme Court embraced moderation, the conservative agenda stalled. Solicitor General Paul Clement says he's noticed a new trend in the wardrobe of Supreme Court advocates. More and more men who argue before the Court are wearing bow ties, a tribute to the trademark neckwear of Justice John Paul Stevens -- and to his power. Midway through the ninth decade of his life, Stevens reached the peak of his career in the Supreme Court term that ended Monday. With a strong assist from Justice Anthony Kennedy, Stevens, 85, was able to assemble majorities and write opinions that read like...

As a game of political chicken shapes up between freshman U.S. Sen. John Thune and the White House, the biggest casualty could be President Bush’s agenda. With strong backing from the national GOP and the president, Thune defeated Tom Daschle, the Democrat’s number-one man in the Senate, in a race that saw South Dakota become one of the nation’s most contentious political battlegrounds. Thune and his supporters were able to out Daschle as the liberal obstructionist he really was — as opposed to the moderate he played on the county-fair circuit. Daschle’s charade didn’t always work, but he could at...