Free Republic

I remember it so clearly — a memory you can only remember so clearly when it is from sadness. You can’t let it go. I was sitting in the mud by the rear passenger side tire of my old Acura cradling my one year old in the steady, driving rain. I was sobbing doing my best not to fall apart in front of my little girl. But the tears ran. My throat hurt as I tried to suppress the guttural cries I wanted to cry there in the mud. RedState, which got up and running in 2004, was out of...

You can tell a lot about prosperity in America by observing the places people are moving to and where they are packing up and moving from. New Census Bureau data on metropolitan areas indicate that the South and the Sunbelt regions continue to grow, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to shrink. Among the 10 fastest-growing metro areas last year were Raleigh, Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. All of these are in low-tax, business-friendly red states. Blue-state areas such as Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, Providence and Rochester were among the biggest population losers. This migration...

Being a native of Atlanta, I always resented media depictions and popular culture images of Georgia as a state where everyone wore overalls, had three teeth in their head, and liberally used terms like "ain't" and "gonna" in their daily vocabulary. The problem is when reality programs like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" depict exactly that, well, it starts to become a losing battle. In the past, I would have written how metropolitan Atlanta has a population of nearly 6 million, many of whom are from somewhere other than Georgia. I would have noted that race relations in the state...

In the wake of the 2012 presidential election, some political commentators have written political obituaries of the "red" or conservative-leaning states, envisioning a brave new world dominated by fashionably blue bastions in the Northeast or California. But political fortunes are notoriously fickle, while economic trends tend to be more enduring. These trends point to a U.S. economic future dominated by four growth corridors that are generally less dense, more affordable, and markedly more conservative and pro-business: the Great Plains, the Intermountain West, the Third Coast (spanning the Gulf states from Texas to Florida), and the Southeastern industrial belt. Overall, these...

Republicans hold a weak hand in Washington but a stronger grip in states where voters have entrusted them with power. Performances there can boost not just the Republican image but bring the party back to power in Washington. More importantly, they can show conservative principles work. The "Red State Model" can, in the Wall Street Journal's words, "Drive Republican Revival." Walter Russell Meade, one of our most brilliant thinkers, has written quite perceptively about the collapse of what he calls "the blue model." These are states that have been firmly in the hands of the Democratic Party and their allies...

For Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his top lieutenants, the challenges of balancing the 2014 Senate map and President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda could cause as many headaches as anything Republicans throw at them. Overall, 20 Democratic-held Senate seats are up for grabs next year, versus 13 for Republicans. Democratic incumbents face reelection in solidly red states like Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana and South Dakota, all of which Obama lost by double-digit margins in November. A little more than a year after Obama is sworn in to another term, there will be high-profile Senate races in swing states...

The dust may still be settling on the 2012 election, but there is good reason for conservatives to find optimism for the future. Recently, I found such hope reviewing the full exit poll data from our recent election. The bottom line on the presidential race was this: Mitt Romney lost the election because voters liked him less than Barack Obama. Despite claims otherwise, the election was not a referendum on Obama’s record or even red state values versus blue state values. Obama and the Democrats have claimed a “mandate,” but the data shows voters actually oppose President Obama’s programs like...

We here at RedState are American citizens. We have no plans to secede from the union. If you do, good luck with that, but this is not the place for you.

I'd consider other Red areas too.

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic argues that it’s getting easier, but more alarming, to differentiate Blue from Red America. The one “looks more and more like Scandinavia, while the other increasingly resembles a social Darwinist’s paradise.� In TNR’s current issue, Cohn examines, with the help of some academic researchers, the strength of the safety nets in blue and red states. The former he defines as those states carried by the Democratic presidential nominee in each of the past three elections. (That roster comprises California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey,...

There are 366 major metropolitan areas in the United States, and a comprehensive new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks them on the basis of generosity -- the percentage of income the median household in each city gives to charity. According to the Chronicle, the most generous city in America is Provo, Utah, where residents typically give away 13.9 percent of their discretionary income. Boston, by contrast, ranks No. 358: In New England's leading city, the median household donates just 2.9 percent of its income to charity. Provo's generosity is typical for its region. Of the 10 most generous...

Cameras in place, cue the lights, turn up the mics. And action. Into our view is the most elaborate stage ever seen for a political convention with the enormous Greek columns flanking the stage with two huge video screens displaying colossal images of the Democratic nominee, inevitably our new presidential American idol. Indeed a monumental stage built in the image of ancient times for a Greek God overlooking his sacrificial sheep. The plot thickened from that historic and gluttonous night like a Greek tragedy. Hope and Change is the mantra of the great idol. Yes we can is chanted from...

The most difficult thing to explain to your average Republican voter is how people like David Dewhurst, Charlie Crist and all the establishment, ladder-climbing, butt-kissing, near permanent political staff flacks who grow up to be lobbyists they put around them literally hate you, me, and conservative fighters like Ted Cruz. And newsflash — it’s not just Washington, but in state capitols throughout America, just like Austin. I have many good friends in Austin and one of them overheard the following conversation yesterday a few blocks down from the Texas State Capitol Building. Trust me, folks, this is just a glimpse...

In the new ABC News/Washington Post poll, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney extends his lead among Independents to 14 points, 53-39 percent. Two months ago, a POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll found Romney had a ten-point lead among the critical Independent voters. The mainstream media is touting the poll as showing the race is “dead even” — a 47-47 percent Obama-Romney contest among registered voters. Yet the new poll contains many more warning signs for the Obamacrats. Obama’s overall job rating is 47-49 percent, approve-disapprove (the same as in May). But his approvals are majority negative on: The Economy, 44-54...

In the past twenty-four hours I have gotten a lot of heat from friends over my take on what John Roberts did. What’s done is done and I really could not get all worked up about it because Obamacare in the Courts has been such a distraction. Yet again the GOP expected a court to save them from something they did not like. The GOP has largely turned its nose up at the tea party, which is its salvation. The tea party movement provided the GOP with the energy, man power, and money to take back the House in 2010...

As most of you know, my family was swatted on May 27, 2012.The police, at the time, told me they were responding to a 911 call about an accidental shooting.I now have the 911 call. It turns out that the call was not about an accidental shooting. The caller said I had shot my wife, she was dead on the floor in front of me, and I was going off to shoot someone else.You can hear the call yourself right here. What I did not know that Sunday night as the Sheriff’s Deputy pulled into the driveway is that the...

Last Sunday, Up with Chris Hayes host Chris Hayes ignited significant outrage with his musings about the word “heroes.” This morning, Up panelist and national security reporter for The Nation Jeremy Scahill waded into controversial semantic waters by repeatedly accusing President Obama of “murder” through the administration’s use of drone strikes, which have killed an indeterminate number of civilians. Surprisingly, Scahill’s indictment of the President was challenged, not by Hayes, but by Redstate.com co-founder Joshua Treviño. The topic of discussion was the so-called “kill list” of suspected terrorists to be exterminated in drone strikes. Hayes began by trying to drill...

Last week we spent a lot of time writing about Brett Kimberlin and the incident involving blogger Patterico where someone spoofed his phone number and told 911 he had shot his wife. Tonight, my family was sitting around the kitchen table eating dinner when sheriffs deputies pulled up in the driveway. Someone called 911 from my address claiming there had been an accidental shooting.

Study Reveals Most Popular Cars Of Each Major Political Party Marketing research company Strategic Vision recently completed a study that sought to identify what new vehicles found the most favor with Democrats and Republicans. After 38,000 responses the study revealed some rather interesting results. The most popular vehicle of those who self identified as members of Republican Party was the not so conservative Ford Mustang Convertible, followed by the Audi A8, Mercedes GL, Ford Expedition and Ford F-150. In fact it seems convertibles are a big hit with members of the Grand Old Party, who were responsible for 69% of...

Santorum Strong in Kansas Rick Santorum looks set for a comfortable lead in the state of Kansas, which holds its caucuses Saturday with 40 delegates up for grabs. "We chased all the candidates out of Kansas!" Santorum said Friday. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have skipped the state to focus on Alabama and Mississippi, with their primaries on Tuesday. Santorum is expected to win the state even though Bob Dole, the former GOP presidential candidate from Kansas, endorsed Romney earlier this week.

By chance I happen to work at a time when the only program I can receive on my radio is the Erik Erikson show on WSB radio. It used to be Herman Cain's time slot but Erik took over when Herman resigned to run for POTUS. He's okay but he claims that his website, redstate.com, is the most read and most influential conservative website in the land. I must live a sheltered life because I spend all of my time here and I never even heard of Redstate until Erik came on the air. Rick Perry obviously did because he...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es-4Pwn5hGU&feature=g-all-u&context=G27d0bceFAAAAAAAAAAA

Yesterday, I argued that Rick Perry should leave the GOP primary in advance of Saturday’s election and endorse Newt Gingrich, who is the most logical fit in the existing field for a Perry endorsement. The Perry campaign responded that the race would be decided by voters, not pundits behind a computer. Fair enough. Rick Perry does not want to be seen as a quitter. But quit he will. I do not want him to quit. I urged him to stay in the race. But sadly his campaign has been unable to get the second look I thought it deserved. Now,...

Following much thoughtful consternation, I have decided to pull my support and endorsement of Texas Governor Rick Perry for the GOP presidential nomination.  I realize the redstate diary commenters, won’t be kind but this needs to be said.  This decision wasn’t easy but a serious evaluation of the field should inform us that Rick Perry has no realistic path to victory in South Carolina, Florida and beyond. I realize that redstate.com’s Erick Erickson continues to stick by him, that South Carolina is Perry’s state and that he has re-tooled his staff.  But it is too little too late and at...

[...] Although it’s being deployed in several states like Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and others, there are still many who have never heard of the Colorado Model. What’s worse, despite all the Left’s bemoaning of the “vast right wing conspiracy,” Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or whatever enemy they can dream up, there is still nothing like the Colorado Model on the Right. In sum, the Colorado Model is one of the Left’s most effective stratagems that was “built” to turn “red states” into “blue states” in a very short period (with the exception, perhaps, of the 2010...

We’ve made a bit of a mistake as a conservative movement fixating so much on the race for the White House. There’s a behind the scenes fight happening in Washington right now. Congressional Republicans are not just selling us out, they are hell bent — and I really do mean hell bent — on destroying the conservative groups raising red flags about what they are doing.For so long the GOP in Washington could hide behind surveys like the American Conservative Union survey, which shows just how much more someone is Republican than Democrat. No one actually did a survey that...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said that “There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.” If so, he would’ve hated where the House is headed for the next decade, because by and large it likely won’t have all that many good fights. Instead of looking at the House through the competitive races, consider instead the uncompetitive races — the large number of seats that should be safe for one party or the other for the foreseeable future. Based on the latest Crystal Ball ratings, less than one in four of the 435 House seats will be competitive next...

Folks — check out what’s going on at Redstate.com today. Please keep screengrabbing the site throughout the day and send the JPEGs to us at HillBuzz@gmail.com. I’m not on a computer that can screengrab right now, and I want to preserve the insanity at Redstate.com for posterity. Every hour, Redstate takes a punch at Palin supporters and I don’t want it disappeared down the memory hole. Erik Erikson, Redstate’s Editor in Chief, has an obsessive hatred of Governor Sarah Palin.  Erikson has become, essentially, the new mouthpiece of the Cocktail Party GOP establishment — what Governor Palin calls “the permanent...

The liberal coalition may not be as liberal as you’d expect. According to the most recent “Battleground Poll� from the George Washington University and Politico, there are some surprisingly large reservoirs of conservatism among many voter groups typically viewed as card-carrying members of the liberal voting bloc.In some cases, a majority of these voters actually describe themselves as conservative. And in many ways they have begun to turn on the president’s relentlessly liberal agenda. Clearly, much more ideological turbulence is to be found these days on the left than on the right.Here are some examples, drawn from the response to...

As I have said before, it constantly amazes me to watch what the media describes as “experienced” senior campaign advisers fail to follow through and do their research. “Know thy enemy” is the first rule of politics 101 and yet supposed ” unbeatable” campaign influence peddlers have failed to learn this lesson when it comes to Rick Perry. I t is downright amusing to watch the show. <snip> Perry’s people will either leak something Perry has said that is “damaging” in the past or will leak something written to the media. It is either this or it is said in...

Radtke: Red State’s Erick Erickson Must ‘Set the Record Straight’ After Making ‘Reprehensible’ Accusations Against Her Conservative blogger Erick Erickson has “propagated a lie” against Virginia Senate candidate Jamie Radtke, she said, insisting that the Red State managing editor must make a “full retraction” and “set the record straight.” “Erick Erickson has created this situation, where he’s called me a drunk and a liar,” Radtke told me in an exclusive interview, “and he has not done a retraction – a prominent, full retraction, admitting what he’s done and setting the record straight in an honorable way.” Radtke’s attorney has threatened...

Youtube is going above and beyond advertising the movie 'Red State' by Kevin Smith. A movie about a bunch of a violent, Christian cult that rants about homosexuals and probably inspired by the Westboro Boro jerks. Is is a deliberate attack on Christians and is in Youtube's Spotlight section, Youtube is actively supporting this movie. Not too surprising. They give a lot of attention to PC and left of center causes; but this is pretty blatant IMO

Earlier today the Perry cheer-leading website ran with a post titled “Palin is not going to run“. That post is based on a response Governor Palin gave to David Brody on when she will make her decision whether she will be running for president. This is what the Governor said:

The Charleston Tea Party forwarded along a message this morning from Erick Erickson, managing editor of conservative news blog RedState.com. In it, Erickson warns attendees of this weekend’s TeaPartyPalooza — er, RedState Gathering — to be on the lookout for sneaky liberals. The conference, which will feature talks from Gov. Nikki Haley and Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, has been generating a lot of buzz since it was revealed that Perry would announce his bid for the 2012 presidency during his speech. A recent Zogby poll placed Perry at the front of the GOP...

And in the political analysis, there is only one player who came out of this with everything he wanted: Barack Obama. Obama wasn’t trying to advance a policy objective. Not even once did he let the articulation of such a thing pass his lips. Rather he had two specific objectives that he had to get at all costs: 1) To get Republicans to propose specific spending cuts that Democrats can use against them in the coming elections, while not making any such proposals himself; and 2) To silence the fiscal debate until after his election in 2012. The president won...

Florida - -(Ammoland.com)- Since 1987 it has been illegal for local Florida governments to regulate firearms and ammunition. The preemption statute was passed then so that Florida gun owners would no longer face a patchwork of local laws that was impossible to keep up with. It was also passed to protect Floridians from local lawmakers who do not respect the citizens’ right to bear arms. The Florida Legislature never imagined that local leaders would thumb their noses at Tallahassee and intentionally break the law despite clear statute and appellate court decisions. But they have for the past 24 years and...

It’s been almost three years since I, along with many others, was introduced to Governor Sarah Palin. In that time we have been saturated with coverage of her and just about everybody on the left and the right, has had the opportunity to get to know who she is and what they think of her. At least that’s what I thought. (snip) I thought she hadn’t gotten a fair shake in the media, but I felt confident that I could see through the bias and that I understood who she was, what she had done and what my opinion would...

Here is what is going to happen unless House Republicans stage an immediate revolt against their own House leadership. Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi are going to win. They have managed to cut the legs out from under John Boehner and the House Republicans. In fact, the House Republicans have taken on all the appearances of Mitch McConnell’s basement gimp. I’m not sure why we need them any more if the McConnell-Reid-Pelosi Pontius Pilate Act passes. See, John Boehner ceded authority to Mitch McConnell. Instead of embracing the conservative “Cut, Cap, and Balance” plan or even pushing forward...

Perhaps it’s because the union extremists at the National Labor Relations Board have 40% less work than their predecessors in 2001, yet have nearly $67 million more in their budget that they now have money to blow on an August conference in Washington, D.C…Or, perhaps it’s because they seem immune from Congressional oversight. Regardless the reason, in August, the National Labor Relations Board is apparently holding a week-long New Employee Conference from August 22, through the 26 in Washington, D.C. In addition to the airfare, the per diem of $71 per day on full days and $53.25 on the partial/travel...

Peace also has become a budget consideration. The research contends that the “absence of violence” can reap economic benefits. A more peaceful U.S. could save $361 billion a year while the “release of trapped productivity through the abatement of violence” would generate an additional 2.7 million jobs. “Violence creates costs for both business and government, it also reduces productivity, which if unleashed will create additional economic growth,” the index said, citing, among other things, “growing incarceration” as a particular drag on the economy.

I have, for me, shown an amazing amount of restraint in keeping my mouth shut on an issue about which I can stay silent no longer — GOProud and CPAC. RedState’s parent company, Eagle Publishing, Inc., is a long time sponsor of CPAC. RedState itself is helping FreedomWorks sponsor Bloggers Row. We were the sole sponsor of Bloggers Row last year. I will be speaking at CPAC at the Young America’s Foundation luncheon named in honor of Tom Phillips, my friend and also the big boss at Eagle Publishing, Inc. I have done my best to stay out of this...

Macon city councilman Erick Erickson says he plans to vacate his council seat within the next six months. He says he's leaving council to start a new full time job: hosting a daily radio talk show on Atlanta's WSB. "It at some point will become impactful to my time on council," says Erickson. His show will air Monday through Friday from 9 pm. to 12 a.m. beginning this Tuesday. He says he's been working on the deal for several months but just signed the contract last week.

I wasn’t so much disturbed by Erick Erickson’s selection of Mike Pence as his candidate for president as much as I was disturbed by his reasoning for why he didn’t go with Sarah Palin. “… as much as I love Sarah Palin, I am adamantly convinced that she cannot win given the ridiculous smears and hate thrown her way by Democrats and, frankly, by a lot of Republicans,” Erickson writes on RedState. “She has been made radioactive.” In essence, it’s an admission that the media and the Establishment are winning in their effort to stop Sarah Palin. The media and...

On most issues, Americans at large and conservatives in particular agree with Governor Palin. However, for two years now, the media has been pushing the narrative that Governor Palin is polarizing, radioactive and unpopular. They’ve been trashing her, attacking her, distorting her record, and making up lies about her on a daily basis. No politician in US history has received the scrutiny that Governor Palin has received. Now as the 2012 campaign gears up, we suddenly have people coming out from the left and the right proclaiming that Governor Palin is unelectable because she is, lets repeat that: Polarizing, radioactive...

The left and Republican Palin Haters have been in open pants soiling mode late this afternoon over my post on Mike Pence. It is truly a matter of reading what one wants to read.Here’s what they are reading. But right now I am not excited by or inspired by any of them save Sarah Palin and, as much as I love Sarah Palin, I am adamantly convinced that she cannot win given the ridiculous smears and hate thrown her way by Democrats and, frankly, by a lot of Republicans. She has been made radioactive.I would, however, still gladly vote...

According to The Huffington Post Kevin Smith is going to make a movie about religious extremism that is "loosely based" on Pastor Fred Phelps of "God Hates Fags" fame. He's calling the movie "Red State." I love Kevin Smith's movies....but TIME OUT! First of all, this movie is going to FAIL, make no mistake about that. Mariah Carey's "Glitter" is going to look like "Avatar's" box office cousin compared to this movie because only a bunch of ignorant liberals who think there is a semblance of reality in it will spend two hours of their life watching it. Meanwhile,...

The latest controversy over Transportation Security Administration body scans and enhanced body pat-downs leaves no doubt: America truly is a nation of whiners. A CBS News poll found that 81 percent of Americans support full-body airport scanning. That reasonable view is being drowned out by elements on the left and the right who love nothing better than to proclaim that they are victims. First exhibit: Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who introduced the "American Traveler Dignity Act" to "protect Americans from physical and emotional abuse." Abuse? Have Americans become such babies that a pat-down designed to prevent another 9/11 causes adults...

With Barack Obama getting a rebuff on the world stage, losing a midterm election, and presiding over a floundering economy almost two years after implementing his stimulus policies, it may occur to some people now that electing a man with no executive, military, diplomatic, or private-sector experience at all might have been a teensy little mistake. How did the media let that slide? (Oh, come on, you know I know the answer!) Sarah Palin chatted with KWHL’s Bob and Mark Show in Anchorage today to discuss the re-release of John Ziegler’s documentary How Obama Got Elected and her own travelogue...

I've always liked Director Peter Weir's films. Master and Commander, Witness, Gallipoli. Even things I didn't care for like The Year Of Living Dangerously and The Dead Poets Society were still well done and stylish. Now he has this coming out in January about an escape from a Soviet gulag in 1940 (be sure to click on the link to the trailer below): Trailer here ---------------------------------------------------- Then there is this little number from Director Kevin Smith. I'll provide the synopsis from IMDB but I'll be damned if I'm going to provide a link to the trailer. From IMDB: "A horror...

Madison — In contests that drew national attention, Democrats lost control of both the state Assembly and Senate in Tuesday's voting, giving Republicans control of all of state government for the first time since 1998. The stunning victory amid high unemployment and economic turmoil in the state represented the first time a political party had won both houses of the Legislature in a single day of voting since 1938, when Republicans swept out the waning Progressive Party. The new GOP majorities will have the potential power to pass tax and spending cuts sought by Governor-elect Scott Walker as well as...