Free Republic

I'm at a point today to state exactly how I feel, and I'll probably get thrown off of here for saying it, but here goes: I think Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Hannity, Bill (I'm looking out for you) O'REilly, Donald Trump, Huckabee and all the rest of the so called conservative journalists and politicians out there are COWARDS OF THE WORST KIND. What are you doing, waiting to see which way the wind is blowing, then you're going to throw your hat in for that candidate? Are you more concerned about your readers, your listeners your viewers than what is...

I've been on FR for several years. Dropped out temporarily when the dialogue turned pretty ugly a few months ago. I'm back now with a new found energy. For this reason I feel compelled to share my thoughts with fellow FRers here. About 5 weeks ago, I decided to throw my support into Newt. As of yet I have no remorse, but I must admit there were times when I thought the world as I used to know it, was upside down when the likes of Ann Coulter, Mark STeyn and many many others, whose opinions I respected, came down...

The Family Research Council has released a new voters guide for pro-life and pro-family voters that compares the Republican presidential candidates on various issues, including abortion and bioethics concerns. While the GOP presidential hopefuls mostly receive strong pro-life marks from FRC, the voter’s guide ultimately has Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum listed as the most pro-life candidates on the four pro-life topics the guide covers. The voters guide relies on documentation from media outlets, comments from candidates, voting records, and research websites such as Project Vote Smart to compile the positions of each candidate. ...

There are two main sorts of primary voters: Those who know too little, and those who know too much. As for the former -- there's not much I can do about them. They don't read this site, or probably too much of any political source. Maybe they read Time. Bless their hearts. The online community consists mainly of the latter -- we know a lot about the candidates, and are each making complicated decisions about trade-offs between electability and agenda (and likelihood of advancing that agenda). My belief is that we know so much that the secondary and tertiary level...

The GOP race for president is coming to a head very quickly. Yes, Newt Gingrich had a terrible launch. But that was in political time eons ago. Now, Gingrich is the last man standing. And if he keeps his mouth shut, he will be the GOP nominee. He can run the table after New Hampshire. Notice, I did not say after Iowa. Iowa is a strange circumstance where standing in the polls sometimes means victory or disaster (look for Ron Paul to do better than expected). What everyone is missing is South Carolina and Florida. Gingrich always planned to make...

Elimination of Health Disparities Vision A 21st Century Intelligent Health System with best outcomes for all. Need * There are three principal areas of health disparities: ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status. # The Institute of Medicine, in Unequal Treatment, summarizes that racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive a lower quality of healthcare than non-minorities, even when access-related factors, such as patients’ insurance status and income, are controlled. The sources of these disparities involve many participants at several levels, including health systems, their administrative and bureaucratic processes, utilization managers, healthcare professionals, and patients. # In an article appearing in...

I write this week’s column from a hotel room in Louisiana, a state which today provides both cause for enthusiasm about what is possible, and also reinforcement of the standard rules of statistics and politics that have always governed elections and likely always will. Louisiana was long famous for its corruption, for its colorful and ethically-challenged politicians and for an acceptance of that status quo that resisted all reasonable efforts for reform. For decades and decades. Then came Hurricane Katrina, and suddenly the public understood at last that the needed response to that hurricane in the gulf was an earthquake...

Depending on how you slice the numbers, Herman Cain may now be leading, or tied for the lead, in polls of Republican primary voters.

A fifth generation Texan, Perry grew up the son of tenant farmers in the tiny West Texas town of Paint Creek. The younger of Ray and Amelia Perry’s two children, he was active in scouting and earned distinction as an Eagle Scout. Perry was one of the first in his family to go to college, earning a degree in Animal Science at Texas A&M, where he was also a member of the Corps of Cadets and a Yell Leader. Between 1972 and 1977, Perry served in the U.S. Air Force flying C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in the Europe and the...

[Jonathan] Martin [of Politico] writes: "Perry's comment (about ...Ben Bernanke's "treasonous" behavior) is exactly the sort of misstep that will worry the many GOP donors on the sideline right now who chiefly want to beat President Obama. The quote reinforces their central fear about Perry — that he has a cowboy problem — and could prompt them to remain uncommitted." This is accurate. It's also irrelevant. It's irrelevant because the "GOP donors on the sideline right now" don't matter. They think they matter, but they don't. The fact is that Rick Perry can raise $15-20 million out of Texas for...

Reflections on a debate question Most reporters ask the same questions again and again, variations on a theme… “what did you do,” “what do you want to do,” and maybe even “what do you think of what somebody else did?” But, once in a while, an election cycle produces a defining theme, so one single average-sounding question can teach us a fundamental truth, or two, or three. Such a moment occurred when Bret Baier of Fox News asked the Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential nomination whether they found tax hikes so distasteful that they would walk away from a...

In a classic, table-pounding, tell-us-how-you-really feel rant, Joe Scarborough has ripped into Michele Bachmann, calling the Minnesota congresswoman and her candidacy "a joke." Scarborough's impassioned anti-Bachmann blast came during Morning Joe's opening half-hour post mortem of last night's Republican presidential debate in Iowa. View video here.

The Republican presidential field is starting to look like “ The Hunger Games,” with those who had no fight in them, those who overplayed their hand and those who were undisciplined out of the fight to the finish before the real contest begins. Mitt Romney - a stronger, well-fed combatant - is eager to enter the arena. Alarmed by the alacrity with which at least half a dozen contenders fell by the wayside, some well-heeled spectators are rushing to support him even before they have a chance to size up the other combatants – some of whom are in stealth...

You told Greta Van Susteren the chances of you running for President was 70%. Where does it stand now?I told Greta then I was about 70%. I would say that now I'm about 75%. I was telling a friend of mine at work about you and he asked me how a person who had never been elected to office could win. And there's a professor at Mercer University who's quoted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution this last week that said I didn't stand a chance. So when I was doing an interview yesterday, somebody wanted to know, "What do...

It might be hard to imagine but after Tuesday’s midterm elections, the 2012 presidential election will start to gear up. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if several candidates announce the formation of exploratory committees as early as December of this year, though most will try to wait until at least January. Remember: disgraced Democratic Senator John Edwards announced his plans to seek the nomination in December 2006. Other major candidates from both parties announced plans to run in January 2007. We had a total of 284 respondents answer the following question–Which Republican are you most likely to support in...

Word is spreading about the pending announcement by the Hampton Roads Tea Party (SE Virginia) regarding which GOP candidate its Board will endorse in the widely watched VA-2 congressional primary. Warner Todd Huston's PubliusForum has picked up the story. This could be such a big deal that the announcement of the announcement is getting big play.

Filling the void in 12th District Observer-Reporter May 10, 2010 The unexpected death in February of U.S. Rep. John Murtha left a void in the U.S. Congress and, more specifically, in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, that seems unlikely to be filled anytime soon. Murtha not only brought a wealth of expertise on defense issues to the U.S. House of Representatives, but also pulled a bounty of federal projects into his district. Some may have condemned it as pork-barrel spending, but it brought the region a much-needed economic lift as the steel industry withered. Voters in the 12th Congressional District will...

Kathleen Thomas, Illinois Republican for U.S. Senate: WHY I AM PRO-FAMILY: In Her Own Words RFFM.ORG EXCLUSIVE OP-ED by Kathleen Thomas Let me first explain that I believe the family is the foundation of society. I also believe that the traditional family is being attacked on all sides. As a mother, a grandmother and American this is of great concern to me. I unashamedly say that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman and that laws should not distort this fact. I believe in human dignity and in treating others with respect. All Americans are entitled to the...

From RFFM.org's Executive Director, Dan Zanoza: RFFM.org will post an op-ed submission from all Illinois pro-family statewide candidates. An op-ed posted on RFFM.org from a particular candidate is not an indication of an RFFM.org endorsement. Op-ed submissions from candidates must meet the following criteria...

Commentary by Daniel Zanoza, Executive Director It has been an amazing experience. I have watched this year's race for the Republican presidential nomination with jaw-dropping awe. The Republican Party's elite, the dominant media and supposed conservative talk radio have done everything possible to marginalize Mike Huckabee--the only true pro-family Republican in the race--while doing so with a straight face. Here's a message I hope no pro-family voter will ignore or mistake for political gamesmanship. There is a movement at hand in the GOP to marginalize the pro-family element of the Republican Party. The attack is coming from the Republican elite...