Free Republic

Ahead of last year’s midterm elections, I suggested to you on this page that Republicans had two years left to decide: Are they the party of Ronald Reagan, or the party of Donald Trump? A party of grounded conservative principles, advanced by Reagan’s high-minded optimism and penchant for compromise? Or a party of authoritarian, populist impulses, motivated by Trump’s dark and pessimistic vision of America as “a nation in decline”? For those of us who hoped that Republican voters would choose the former, recent months have offered little cause for optimism. Sen. Tim Scott’s withdrawal from the presidential primary earlier...

Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech “A Time For Choosing” a week before Election Day 1964. Nearly six decades later, the speech remains relevant, and the parallels to the circumstances we face today are striking. The battles against big government and Marxist do-gooders have changed only in the sense that they have intensified. Americans are still debating our role in the world—even as war rages in Europe. We are uncertain of our future, as we were then. Reagan decried a bloated welfare state, a militant tax-and-spending regime in Washington, and the blatant bribing of Americans with their own tax dollars...

Reagan: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn't been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own words and discuss my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few weeks. I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues confronting us cross party lines. Now, one side in this campaign has been telling us that...

This speech is a verbatim transcript of "The Speech" given as a portion of a pre-recorded, nationwide televised program sponsored by Goldwater-Miller on behalf of Barry Goldwater, Republican candidate for the presidency whom Ronald Reagan actively supported. Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn't been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few weeks. I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I...

For many college-bound students, choosing just the right school can be even more stressful than taking the SAT exam. How do you choose, from among more than 3,500 American colleges and universities, the place where you'll live and learn for four years? Beyond that, how do you find the school you love -- and can also afford? Savvy students and parents should start by pinpointing what they most want and need in a college. Make your own customized list or check a few Internet sites for ideas. Specifications for schools Some sites, such as The Princeton Review, allow you to...

If you want to be in political vogue this year, here's what you need to know. The slogan "live within our means" is out, pandering to Latino voters is in. That's why you see Arnold and the Democrats falling all over themselves to get close to the new "It" voter for 2006. Republicans, never having been the cool kids in the building (as the capitol is known), are slow to play along and throw out last year's chinos for this year's cargo pants. Republicans are still stuck on fixing the structural deficit and passing a responsible budget. Others have different...

BALTIMORE, March 14, 2006 – Iraq is at a crossroads, and the Iraqi people have critical decisions to make in the near future, the top U.S. general said here yesterday. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses the Baltimore Council of Foreign Affairs March 13. Pace took numerous questions from the audience on issues ranging from port security to current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. During a presentation before the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman...

One of Bush's concepts on the War on Terror is to replace those governments that harbor and grow hate with democracies. It's an important concept, one that recognizes that in order to kill the weed of murder and torture you have to pull it up by its roots. The new seeds, planted well, will flower into the type of free flowing information that'll pollinate the brains of young and old alike. I know, I know. It sounds like some fairy tale. But recent polls taken in Islamic countries show a sudden drop in support for Bin Ladin accompanied by an...

The word of the week is consultation. As in, it’s essential for President Bush to engage in consultation with Democrats before nominating anyone to the Supreme Court. And it has to be genuine, according to New York’s Senator Charles Schumer, who demands "real, face-to-face, back-and-forth consultation." Let’s see. Democrats have managed to lose their control of the House of Representatives. They lost control of the Senate. They lost control of the White House. This places them in a somewhat less than ideal position to be issuing demands. It’s rather like Robert E. Lee insisting on "real, face-to-face, back-and-forth consultation" with...

Recently a friend noticed the political sticker on my car and asked, ''Why are you voting for him?'' I replied, ''Because I'm a Christian.'' He said, "I don't trust people who mix their religion and politics.'' I answered, ''I don't trust people who don't! If your religion doesn't affect the important choices of your life, it's not worth much. And if your politics are opposed to your religious values, something is wrong with one or the other--maybe both.'' Far too long have Christians allowed the voices of the liquor industry, organized gambling humanist education, loose morals, sexual perversion, pornography, criminals'...

October 29, 2004, 9:00 a.m. The Reagan Revolution at 40It's a time for choosing, again. By Brad Lips and Dan Lips Forty years ago, on the eve of a presidential election, millions of Americans gathered in front of their television sets to watch a fading Hollywood star deliver a speech on behalf of the Republican candidate, Sen. Barry Goldwater. At the time, "The Speech" hardly seemed the historical watershed that we now recognize it as — especially since Goldwater would be defeated in a landslide days later. But in that October 1964 televised address, Ronald Reagan offered a compelling...

A Time For ChoosingRonald Reagan - 1964 I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this. It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, “We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government.” The idea that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in...

I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this. It's time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government." This idea? that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we...