Free Republic

For years, we have been hearing that the Republican Party was on the ropes: when Bill Clinton won in 1992 and 1996; when Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012; when the tea party launched in 2009; when Texas Senator Ted Cruz and company shut down the federal government for a few days in 2013. (Remember when we were told that voters were going to "punish" Republicans in 2014? Yeah, that was right before they handed the GOP control of the House and Senate.) When Donald Trump roared into the primaries in 2015 and knocked out his more -- shall...

For a party which purports to have the best interests of African-Americans at heart, and which lobbies tirelessly for their votes-when it’s convenient, it should be noted-the Democrats have a shocking lack of empathy for black Americans. At least, those in the working class who are seeking gainful employment while competing against millions of low-wage immigrants. During last night’s Democratic presidential debate, every candidate studiously avoided tackling the elephant in the room. Namely, the continued decline in wages-and prolonged unemployment-for one of their party’s most loyal constituencies. Even as the men and woman on stage boasted of the amenities and...

How different would the immigration debate look today had Barbara Jordan lived? It’s a question frequently pondered by those of us who believe the answer to every problem concerning immigration isn’t necessarily more immigration. Jordan was the first woman elected to Congress from Texas and the first Southern black female ever elected to the House. She compiled a similar record of firsts in Texas state politics and was active in the civil rights movement. But Jordan capped her career chairing the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. The commission’s vision of immigration reform was very different than the “comprehensive” variety pushed...

I have made it a recurring theme of comments and front page postings to impress how important speaking and communicating is to leadership, particularly in the political arena.  The power and effect of inspirational rhetoric cannot be overstated, most especially in democracies. On October 5, 1995, the alumni organization, West Point Association of Graduates, awarded their prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award before the student body, faculty and friends of the military academy.  Famous recipients, beginning 50 years ago in 1958, include General Douglas MacArthur, Neil Armstrong, Reverend Theodore Hesburgh, Ronald Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater.  As one of only two women to ever receive this...

Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who involved herself in a physical altercation with a Capitol Hill cop and may be facing charges related to the incident, is one very confused lady (to use the term loosely). What she is confused about is the difference between respect for an office and respect for a person. It is a fine and necessary distinction.

...Justice O'Connor is being hailed as the Court's "swing" Justice, but her legacy is more complicated. She has been a conservative on property rights and federalism, most recently in her Kelo dissent, where she took vigorous issue with the Court's extension of government's eminent domain power to include the taking of private property for private economic development. Replacing her with a "moderate" could actually mean a more liberal court on those issues. Where she drifted left over the years--and where her written opinions often sowed confusion--was on social issues, notably church-state and racial matters. She focused more on the facts...