Free Republic

I was going to blog about Romney’s recent flip-flops on the minimum wage issue and bilingual education – flip-flop #36 and #37, but when I saw Ann Coulter’s recent column praising RomneyCare, I have to admit, I just lost it. She called RomneyCare “free-market” and claims it’s a “conservative” approach to health care. Apparently, the individual mandate is something we conservatives should all run out into the streets and start celebrating. I was shocked. One of her arguments seems to be that a number of conservative politicians and the Heritage Foundation originally supported RomneyCare and therefore, that makes it conservative....

WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM WITH ROMNEY?February 22, 2012 As governor of one of the most liberal states in the union, Mitt Romney did something even Ronald Reagan didn't do as governor of California: He balanced the budget without raising taxes. Romney became deeply pro-life as governor of the aforementioned liberal state and vetoed an embryonic stem cell bill. (Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich lobbied President George W. Bush to allow embryonic stem cell research.) Romney's approach to illegal immigration in Massachusetts resembled what Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona is doing today, making her a right-wing heroine. Romney pushed the conservative alternative to...

IOWA SHOWS REPUBLICANS DETERMINED TO BEAT OBAMA January 4, 2012It's been a mixed week for Mitt Romney's campaign. On one hand, Romney won Iowa, but on the other, he was endorsed by John McCain. Until the first actual votes were cast Tuesday night, it appeared as if some elements of the Republican Party were becoming the mirror image of a liberal mob. The wild swings -- at least in the polls -- from one populist right-winger to another suggested that some Republicans were determined to change the meaning of "conservative" from "normal person who wants to protect what's best...

I read Ann's latest column with a heavy heart. I came away with the unmistakable feeling that she has lost faith in the philosophy and movement she has been a firebrand for until now. And I think about how it happens that a person at the age of 50 becomes the very cheerleader for the status quo that she argued against these many years. I believe it is true that as we age we develop different thoughts about things, through experience, through people we meet, through having to be forced to take a position on something we cannot imagine when...