Free Republic

I am often asked when I chose to become Catholic. However, it is more truthful to say that over the course of several years I gradually became Catholic and then decided one day to accept the faith I had already come to embrace. My wife, Callista, is a lifelong Catholic and has been a member of the choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., for 15 years. Although I was Southern Baptist, I had attended Mass with Callista every Sunday at the basilica to watch her sing with the choir. I accompanied...

By shifting the spectrum of debate, here's how America's rightward march has been normalized throughout history. From Nixon to Reagan to Gingrich to Bush to Paul Ryan and Chris Christie today, leaders who’ve shifted America to the right have been aided by moderating misrepresentations. In the case of Reagan, it was not just the man, but conservatism itself that received the flattering reinterpretation. That was a difference that mattered; it goes to the heart of why Reagan is the American right’s touchstone. But the more general process of misrepresenting and reinterpreting increasingly radical ideological figures as if they were normal,...

The attacks have begun. The Republican establishment in the U.S.A. has now actually started the shooting war in the 2014 primary elections they have been threatening against conservative candidates for Congress. “Hopefully we’ll go into eight to 10 races and beat the snot out of them,” said former Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio. His new political group, Defending Main Street, plans to raise $8 million to defeat tea-party candidates and elect moderate Republicans instead. “We’re going to be very aggressive and we’re going to get in their faces.” LaTourette was a close ally of moderate Republican Speaker John Boehner in...

CNN pundit and former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich joined the growing chorus of supporters for suspended Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson on Thursday, comparing the duck-call mogul to Pope Francis on his show, Crossfire. Robertson was suspended from the show by A&E after making anti-gay remarks to GQ magazine – but according to Gingrich, the comments were nothing short of “remarkable.” “Ironically, if you read the whole interview, not just take one section, he talks very specifically about loving everybody,” Gingrich, a former Republican presidential candidate, said on Crossfire. “He talks very specifically about not being judgmental toward...

ABC This Week viewers were treated to a classic conservative versus liberal debate Sunday. When former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich tried to blame the increase in poverty in the past five years on Republicans, former Speaker of the House and current CNN host Newt Gingrich called it "baloney" firing back, "Every major city which is a center of poverty is run by Democrats" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary): Gingrich Schools Reich: 'Every Major City Which Is a Poverty Center Is Run By Democrats' JONATHAN KARL, SUBSTITUTE HOST: And let me ask you, Mr....

The Republican Party has always represented a fusion of two broad groups: those who are driven by ideology and those who grew up in geographic areas that are traditionally Republican and joined the party because it was the obvious way to enter politics. Call them the Nixon Republicans, these folks live in suburbs or small towns and represent the equivalent of the urban big city machines that spawn and nurture Democrats. But this party could not get elected. It would not have defeated Jimmy Carter in 1980 or elected Ronald Reagan. It would not have been the vehicle for the...

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said he is surprised at the "hostility and vehemence" that some conservatives have in reaction to a statement he made honoring the late Nelson Mandela. "Yesterday I issued a heartfelt and personal statement about the passing of President Nelson Mandela. I said that his family and his country would be in my prayers and Callista's prayers," Gingrich wrote on Friday. "I was surprised by the hostility and vehemence of some of the people who reacted to me saying a kind word about a unique historic figure. So let me say to those conservatives...

Yesterday I issued a heartfelt and personal statement about the passing of President Nelson Mandela. I said that his family and his country would be in my prayers and Callista’s prayers. I was surprised by the hostility and vehemence of some of the people who reacted to me saying a kind word about a unique historic figure. So let me say to those conservatives who don’t want to honor Nelson Mandela, what would you have done? Mandela was faced with a vicious apartheid regime that eliminated all rights for blacks and gave them no hope for the future. This was...

The latest wound is largely self-inflicted. Medicaid and the new Obamacare exchanges are competing for the same young and healthy customers that Obamacare needs to survive -- and Medicaid's winning. President Obama and the entire Democratic Party have nobody else but themselves to blame. In its hubris, the Democratic Party members assured the country again and again in 2009 and 2010 that it knew enough to be able to forcibly reorganize one-sixth of the American economy without causing millions to lose their current health insurance coverage, without triggering skyrocketing costs and without causing a host of terrible unintended consequences. The...

This Friday, November 15, may be a major turning point for the Obama Presidency. On Friday there will be a key vote on Chairman Fred Upton's bill, the Keep You Health Plan Act. It’s beginning to look as though a large number of House Democrats are going to break with the President and vote for the Upton bill. Ominously for the President, the House Democrat rebellion is matched by an even more visible desertion among Senate Democrats. When Senator Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat, lost her ten-point advantage for reelection since the Obamacare website failed, she had a clear...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLQebqVQKcc The Senate, by not passing a budget, and by saying fund all or nothing, has taken away the House's power of the purse to defund courts or an other agency that goes beyond its power. If the House impeaches a judge, the current senate would neither try nor convict and remove from office. If the House abolished a court, or limited its jurisdiction, that law would never get through the senate. Every means by which the people can rein in a courts power would be halted by the US Senate and then by former Senator Barack Obama. Therefore, we...

Americans For Tax Reform Tax Policy Director Ryan Ellis said on Wednesday night that he's starting to think tea party activists are "freaking retarded."

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich fired back at conservative author and columnist Ann Coulter for remarks she made about him on “Hannity” Monday. -snip- “That’s kind of weird. I helped lead us to the first Republican majority in the House in 40 years. I helped develop with Bill Clinton the first four – the only four – balanced budgets in her lifetime. We helped pass welfare reform. I would’ve thought all those would have counted against the number of books she’s sold. But, you know, people have got to go out and say something to sell books and she’s...

It's vital that young Americans learn the history of our amazing nation. Being an American requires knowing what it means to be an American. It's the fabric that binds us together and helps us understand who we are. Today, unfortunately, many of our students are failing to learn American history, including our founding principles and values. And they're failing to learn why America remains an exceptional nation.

Former Speaker and former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich took to Twitter to blast the Obama administration for its absurd shutdown actions. "DC Tourists frustrated by shutdown Smithsonian should visit Mount Vernon. Ladies of Mount Vernon have NEVER taken govt money. Still open" Gingrich and wife had paid a visit to Mount Vernon. And he noticed a little something on the bus turnaround. "The tour bus turnaround at Mount Vernon closed by Park Police. Zero maintenance required." A response from a lib: "Zero maintenance. However, if someone gets lost in there, a staff would be required. Are you really that damn...

A lot of conservatives are now trying to minimize the damage the GOP suffered after the 21-day government shutdown of 1995-1996. They point out, correctly, that even though President Clinton was re-elected, Republicans held the House (losing just three seats on net) and gained two Senate seats. What they fail to mention or appreciate is that this was not a good performance for the GOP that year...They narrowly lost four other close contests, and have since managed to gain only one of those four missed seats.

<p>Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Congress should try to avoid a government shutdown, but if Congress fails to reach an agreement over the next three days, then the shuttering of government would not hurt Republicans.</p> <p>“If there is a shutdown, this notion that it hurts the Republicans is totally wrong,” Mr. Delay said on CNN’s “New Day.”</p>

(CNN) -- The worst possible outcome for the country from the impasse over the continuing resolution that would prevent a government shutdown would be for House Republicans to cave. This is a pivotal conflict that will define the relationship between Congress and the executive branch for the next three years. The country will be much better off if Congress does not abdicate its constitutional role and if the president cannot ignore that role. When President Barack Obama is willing to negotiate with Russian, Syrian and Iranian leaders but unwilling to negotiate with the U.S. House of Representatives, it is time...

A new political action committee is hoping to convince former Speaker of the House and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich to run for the U.S. Senate in Virginia next year. Draft Newt PAC insists Gingrich, now a host of CNN’s Crossfire, is Republicans’ best hope for retaking the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), who is vying for his second term. “We want a credible challenger to Mark Warner, and no one could do what Newt could do to fight—and win,” said Andrew Hemingway, a former staffer on Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign who is leading the Draft...

Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Sunday blasted President Barack Obama's diplomatic strategy with Russia President Vladimir Putin regarding Syria's use of chemical weapons, saying Obama is now "following from behind." "You have Putin playing chess and Obama playing, frankly, a very lucky game of tic-tac-toe," Gingrich said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Putin stepped in to maximize Russian influence in the Middle East. That is a strategically defeat for the United States." "We are now relying on the Russians," said Gingrich, now a host of CNN's 'Crossfire." We're now following from behind -- not leading from behind....