Free Republic

Jeanne Plakon Performs "November" and "God Bless America" at Orange County Republican Executive Committee lincoln Day Dinner. Special Guest Sarah Palin. Sarah, Piper and Jeanne Plakon (singing) on stage

CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez's government said Monday it isn't interested in buying electricity from neighboring Colombia despite Venezuela's struggles with severe energy shortages. Colombian Energy Minister Hernan Martinez said earlier Monday that his country is producing more electricity than it consumes and could supply Venezuela with power. But Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua spurned the offer, saying his country "is going to power up its own electricity system." Chavez blames energy shortages on a drought and low water levels at Guri Dam, which supplies about 70 percent of Venezuela's electricity. Critics call the shortages a result of the president's...

Bien-pensant conservative elites and establishment-friendly Republican big shots yearn for a more moderate, temperate and sophisticated Republican Party. It's not likely to happen. And probably just as well. This Story A good time to be a conservative Who's 'us' to the GOP? Time to reawaken young voters The Gallup poll released Monday shows the public's conservatism at a high-water mark. Some 40 percent of Americans call themselves conservative, compared with 36 percent who self-describe as moderates and 20 percent as liberals. The conservative number is as high as it's been in the two decades that Gallup has been asking the...

A wise philosopher once observed that it ain’t over til the fat lady sings. Well folks, the fat lady has sung and it is over. “It,” of course, is the debate over global warming. The result is not that envisioned by the global warming zealots, as amply demonstrated by the following. A petition which asks the United States government to reject the Kyoto agreement gathered over 32,000 signatures. In a paper titled “The IPCC- On the Run at Last,” Dr. Robert Carter stated, “The IPCC’s 2007 final summary for policy makers shows that the climate alarmists are on the run....

Great spoof video on Obama click image

The typology study's finding of significant cleavages within parties not only runs counter to the widespread impression of a nation increasingly divided into two unified camps, but also raises questions about political alignments in the future. In particular, the study suggests that if the political agenda turns away from issues of defense and security, prospects for party unity could weaken significantly. As the following chapters detail, numerous opportunities exist for building coalitions across party lines on many issues currently facing the nation ­ coalitions that, in many cases, include some strange political bedfellows. Overall, there are many more shades to...

Whatever happens to Susan Boyle on Saturday night, her place is secure in folk memory. The moment the 48-year-old Scottish spinster put a microphone to her mouth on the theatre-of-cruelty stage of the UK television show Britains Got Talent, faces froze and fantasy took over. The three judges on the ITV program had greeted with rolled eyeballs and sniggers the arrival of an uncoiffed contestant in a saggy, off-white frock. Those world-weary prejudices choked in their throats as Boyle began to sing I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables in a voice as full as Loch Lomond in flood. Her...

The goal must be to challenge liberal premises. Liberal premises necessarily lead to liberal policies. ----snip---- These are softballs lobbed up to the plate that should be swung at with Ruthian clouts and smacked out of the park with ease. Dispute the liberal premise, offer the conservative alternative and let the listener complete the logic for himself. ----snip---- But there are three pre-requisites for all the above: Belief, patience and courage. Belief, in that far too many GOP higher-ups don't really believe in conservatism. One only diligently goes to the mat for that which one truly and fully believes in...

Not even Dick Cheney can incite the blood-curdling rage of liberals at the sight of a sexy Evangelical Christian. Paula Jones, Katherine Harris, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and, most recently, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, have all come under a frenzy of attacks from liberals. Christians are supposed to be fat, balding sweaty little men with bad complexions. It's liberals who are supposed to be the sexy ones. (I know that from watching "The West Wing" and all movies starring Julia Roberts.) But sadly for liberals, in real life, the fat, balding sweaty little guy with the bad complexion is Perez...

GEN. Colin Powell is wrong to say that the Republican Party must move to the center: Now is not the time to try for triangulation. This is a time for the party to stand firm on its principles until this nation again comes around to the GOP's way of thinking. This process will be driven by the consequences of President Obama's program. The challenge brought by Obama is no longer just theoretical: He means to pass the ultimate leftist agenda and has the votes to do so. As a result, our nation will be unrecognizable well before the 2010 elections....

Watch video of O'Reilly's interview of Dick Morris video

Ever since the "global warming" lie began, for at least two decades or more, I have been writing about what a huge hoax it was and is. For all that time I believed that if the truth got out and reached enough people, they would conclude it was a lie. The entire credibility of major so-called environmental organizations and institutions such as the United Nations rests on whether there ever was a greater than natural warming cycle; one that would cause harm to the world. Patiently, I pointed out that the most recent natural warming cycle had begun around 1850...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Neither Superman nor the Republican Party has to worry about Rush Limbaugh — not if Dick Cheney is right. The former vice president says he disagrees with those who say the radio talk-show host is "kryptonite" for the GOP. That's the assessment of former Bush administration speechwriter David Frum, who contends that Limbaugh drives voters away from the Republican Party. Cheney calls Limbaugh "a good friend" who does great work and serves an important purpose.

In the aftermath of the presidential election last November, one thing stands out that does not bring distinction to our political process. It was the objectivity-challenged behavior of the media toward the candidacy of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. It was both shameful and no way to treat a woman. The press, who seemed to virtually fawn on Mr. Obama's every move, went out of its way to undermine Sarah Palin. Manners, chivalry and courtesy took a hike. In fact, the liberal media gave her the full 3-D treatment - discredit, deride and defame. Sarah Palin came on the scene...

The Sack Lunches I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. ' Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then...

Russia today has become more powerful relative to Europe than it has been since Napoleon, a situation that is all but certain to make the Europeans less willing than the United States to challenge Russian policies. Energy may accomplish for the Russians what the Soviet and Russian armies by themselves could not.

What we've been reminded once again is that Vladimir Putin is perfectly willing to sacrifice the rule of law and the good opinion of others to protect the Russian empire and the energy monopoly that sustains it. The techniques he used to bring Georgia to heel, while more lethal and destructive, have the same thuggish quality as the techniques Putin uses to silence domestic opposition and to expropriate the energy assets of Yukos, Shell and BP.

Bringing the intelligent design debate to high-def, Vivendi Visual has announced an October Blu-ray release for Ben Stein's controversial documentary 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.' Drawing lines in the intelligent design versus evolution debate (with Stein falling squarely on the side of the former), 'Expelled' was praised by religious leaders and condemned by scientists in equal measure. Released through the Vivendi Visual Entertainment label, the company has set a October 21 Blu-ray release for the incendiary doc, day-and-date with the standard DVD.

Bush, Republicans, and Americans all stand to gain if the moratorium on offshore drilling is lifted. With President Bush and congressional Republicans beating the drums daily for more oil and gas production, the Democrats are finally starting to crack and offer compromises. The Democrats, of course, can read the polls, and they know drilling is the one issue that threatens their otherwise commanding position heading into the November elections. But Bush and the Republicans can do better than a compromise. Indeed, a full no-compromise victory on domestic energy production is less than two months away if they can just stick...

MINATITLAN, Mexico _ Pungent smoke billows from aging petrochemical plants here. Foul-smelling bluish water gathers in pools outside the walls. Fading paint announces the creaky Lazaro Cardenas refinery, a perfect metaphor for one of the world's biggest and most antiquated state oil companies. Petroleos Mexicanos employs more than 147,000 people and has long operated as a state within a state, with its own hospitals, pensions and integrated business operations. snip----Workers warn that they'll fight downsizing. "The energy reform should not harm the (labor) agreements. If it does, it won't fly," warned Jose Manuel Sanchez Urrita, a 24-year veteran of the...