Free Republic

The wrong diagnosis leads to the wrong solution. Over at The American Thinker, James Lewis says, "American conservatism has taken a trouncing...." I disagree. American conservatism was not even on the ballot since there was no conservative candidate in the running. In the Republican primaries, the prospective conservative candidates bailed out. Fred Thompson, probably the most conservative prospect, just didn't have the "fire in the belly" to fight his way to the top of the ticket. Consequently, we ended up with a Republican on the ticket who was not a conservative, but a moderate appeaser who put more emphasis on...

My contribution to your political edification Hey! Not watching the Dem convention? No problem, I’ve got you covered! Here’s the synopsis of the important speeches.

District of Columbia continues to violate civil rights By Charles Bloomer web posted August 4, 2008 In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision shooting down the District of Columbia's total handgun ban, the D.C. government passed emergency legislation to regulate handguns owned by its subjects – I mean, citizens. The new gun registration law was developed to be as difficult and inconvenient as possible with no regard for its effectiveness. In fact, the new law retains much of the previous gun ban, including provisions that the Supreme Court called unconstitutional. Despite the Supreme Court ruling, the new law outlaws...

The fallacy of gun registration By Charles Bloomer web posted July 14, 2008 One of the gun grabbers' favorite "common sense" gun control measures is gun registration. As with other gun control schemes, the anti-gun crowd never considers whether or not the particular "common sense" law actually does anything constructive. In actuality, the "common sense" gun laws are grossly deficient in common sense. Last week on WTOP radio's "Ask the Chief" program, Washington, DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier inadvertently admitted that the District's gun registration program was a failure. According to the Chief, "Honestly, there are thousands of handguns that...

The Solicitor General has issued a truly bizarre amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the case of Heller vs. District of Columbia, the case that is challenging the District's ban on handguns. The Solicitor General's Office represents the administration in cases before the Supreme Court and, as in this case, presents the administration's position. Needless to say, the Solicitor General's Office has considerable influence before the court. The brief presented by the Solicitor General makes some valid points upon which Second Amendment supporters can agree. The brief states the administration's opinion that the right to keep and bear arms...

Reading the tea leaves By Charles Bloomer Prince William County, here in Virginia, has earned a high profile recently because of its introduction of strict policies to exclude illegal immigrants for tax-payer funded services. The county’s resolution to restrict services had been passed twice by unanimous vote by the Board of County Supervisors. Dire consequences were being predicted for politicians who ran on either side of the issue. As a result, the county was being watched closely to see the impact of these policies on Tuesday’s election results. Now that the results are in, we can see that taking a...

We all know about “yellow-dog Democrats” – those voters who would vote for an ugly yellow dog running as a Democrat before voting for any Republican. Have you ever heard of a “yellow dog Republican”? No? Not surprising, because the creature does not exist. While I’m sure that any number of pundits could give you any number of reasons, I believe it boils down to this – Those who vote for Democrats are driven by ideology, while likely Republican voters are driven by principles. For clarity, I’ll define ideology as the doctrinal basis of a political or social system, i.e.,...

For the past two weeks we have been inundated with idiotic stories masquerading as news. The saturation coverage of the soap opera fiascoes of Anna Nicole Smith and Brittney Spears has nearly drowned out any real news that has occurred. The television coverage has been excessive to the point of obscenity. Is there really nothing else happening in the world that is newsworthy? Is the world so quiet that we must be flooded with meaningless stories about meaningless people, their meaningless lives, and the meaningless events surrounding them? Some observers call this "tragedy TV", "soap opera news", "trash TV", or...

There may be things about the Republicans you are unhappy with -- massive government spending, a slow response to the problem of illegal immigration. But those things pale in comparison to the two most important actions Republicans can take in our favor -- Defend the country and boost the economy by keeping taxes low. The alternative is not very impressive. The Democrats have a long list of actions that they are just chomping at the bit to get to. Raise your taxes, impeach the President, abandon Iraq. And while President Bush has identified the enemy as Islamist jihadist terrorists, the...

For over a week now we have been inundated with endless reports of the salacious text messages from a now-resigned Congressman. The Dems and their left wing media supporters have ignored the important issues that face us right now, today, preferring to wallow in the slime of a minor Congressman's peccadilloes. In addition to North Korea and its insane dictator, Iran has refused to stop its nuclear program. Iran has stonewalled the European negotiations and ignored the United Nations' threat of sanctions. So let me ask a simple question. Which of the following is a life-or-death problem (you may choose...

The second point to consider is this: Members of congress do not "work for" the Speaker. Nor do they work for the majority or minority whips, nor the political leadership, nor the Master at Arms. Every member of congress is elected by the people of his or her district - a representative "works for" the voters in his district. The House does have some disciplinary authority, but the Speaker cannot fire a member. The Speaker cannot discipline a member without referring the wrongdoing to the Ethics Committee. The Speaker of the House sets the agenda for the House and determines...

The European criticism expressed recently regarding our war on terror is either naïve or just plain stupid. Either way, it is dangerous. The enemy we face is brutal, intolerant, murderous and driven by an irrational ideology. The enemy will not stop attacking us if we swear by Merkel's maxim. The enemy will not respond to diplomacy, negotiations, or incentives. The enemy we fight today has one goal: To overpower and enslave us. Hiding our heads in the sand and mouthing platitudes about tolerance and respecting other cultures will not defeat this enemy. America has a right and a duty to...

Outlawing morality, protecting perversion By Charles Bloomer web posted September 4, 2006 In a recent column, I stated that anti-war Liberals are a threat to our society. Their penchant for pacifisms, negotiations, and process, coupled with their refusal to stand up to our enemies could very well lead to the destruction of our way of life. And as others have stated, this may be a passive threat to us in that these people may not want us to lose, but they do not want us to win. Now comes a story out of California that leads me to state that...

The election of Ned Lamont in the Connecticut US Senate primary and the increased visibility of anti-war Liberals such as Jack Murtha are disturbing trends in the direction of American politics. At a time when we are in a war of survival against an enemy whose ultimate goal is our complete destruction, the ascendency of the cut-and-run crowd is dangerous. While no one thinks the war in Iraq has gone perfectly, reasonable people know that wars never turn out like the paper plans -- no matter how carefully the plans were made. Wars are always ugly, deadly, and destructive. War...

America -- Land of the Free, Home of the Brave by Charles Bloomer Except, of course, for "war heroes" such as John Murtha (D-PA). Jack Murtha would rather see America become "Home of the Cowards" and "Land of the Fearful". He would rather see America as a weak, timid nation unable or unwilling to help oppressed people around the world remove the yoke of murderous dictators, unwilling to honor our commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan, unwilling to perform the dangerous tasks required to preserve and spread freedom and democracy. Murtha has become a clown-like figure in the circus of anti-war...

The Debate over the Miers Nomination By Charles Bloomer The nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has generated the most vigorous debate among Conservatives and Republicans in recent years. Listening to the media, one would think that this debate signals the demise of the Republican Party specifically, and the Conservative movement in general. Every day since the Miers nomination was announced and the first opposition appeared, the liberal media has trumpeted the growing chasm, the widening ideological gap, the irreconcilable differences among the Right that will inevitably lead to the death of the Republican Party, the alienation of...

Rebuilding Republican Credibility In a recent column, I criticized the Republican leadership for ignoring two topics that have become important to their conservative base – illegal immigration and massive spending. In this column, I want to follow up with some ideas for actions that the party can take to help regain credibility. The conservative base is not opposed to immigration, so long as it is legal and in the best interest of this country. The base is opposed to those actions or proposals that reward and encourage illegal immigration. Proposals such as guest worker programs that do not recognize or...

The medical profession has developed a plethora of warning signs that we ignore at our own peril. There are warning signs for cancer, for heart disease, for high blood pressure, for any number of potential problems. The concept here is simple: educate the public to help them live longer. To use another analogy, automobiles have warning signs and indicators. Good drivers know the normal operating condition of their vehicles. They know how to recognize warning signs of impending trouble. Unusual noises, erratic performance, hesitation when accelerating tell drivers that something is not right. Automobiles with gauges provide indications of abnormal...

Liberal judicial activism, Liberal judicial tyranny By Charles Bloomer, Liberty Call US The First Amendment says, in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." My interpretation is that we all have an inalienable right to freely exercise religion, and that no government entity can force us to practice a particular religion. It appears that the 9th Circuit Court (again) disagrees. Today, a judge declared the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional because it contains the words "under God". In the judge's interpretation, requiring school children to say the Pledge forces...

Perhaps. It appears gray in what I am seeing so far. EM Dave Yates pointed out the Constitution of Virginia discourages, but does not prohibit, the suspension of laws: http://legis.state.va.us/Laws/search/Constitution.htm#1S7 Section 7. Laws should not be suspended. That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised. However, the Governor has to power to do many things in an emergency: