Free Republic

In 1994, an electoral tsunami washed House Democrats out of the majority for the first time in forty years. The runoff returned them in twelve years. Four years later, pundits predict another Republican wave in Washington. Memory won't permit attribution, but someone recently wrote about sine waves, suggesting that politics runs in similar cycles. The facts, though, suggest that, if politics resembles wave action, it is not mathematical sine waves, but more like radio waves in which the frequency and amplitude are constantly variable. Forty years. Twelve years. Four years? The frequency is increasing. It took twelve years for Republicans...

We all have heard about this by now, but The Politico's Jonathan Martin confirms it: Mitt Romney's campaign is trying to weed off John McCain's older Florida supporters by bashing him for voting against the biggest entitlement in the history of America. Mitt Romney's campaign is sending out automated phone calls to Florida Republicans attacking John McCain on taxes and Social Security, an aide to the former governor confirms... "John McCain voted against the AARP-backed Medicare prescription drug program," the call notes, in an obvious effort to give seniors pause about the senator. There are any number of things you...

The Geopolitics of Dope January 29, 2008 | 2103 GMT By George Friedman Over recent months, the level of violence along the U.S.-Mexican border has begun to rise substantially, with some of it spilling into the United States. Last week, the Mexican government began military operations on its side of the border against Mexican gangs engaged in smuggling drugs into the United States. The action apparently pushed some of the gang members north into the United States in a bid for sanctuary. Low-level violence is endemic to the border region. But while not without precedent, movement of organized, armed cadres...