Free Republic

Washington conservatives who dissent from the party line are often accused of selling out our principles in hope of snagging an invitation to a Georgetown cocktail party. It costs much, much more than that to buy Washington's pillars of conservative orthodoxy. Thanks to the brave people at FedEx, the whole world now knows exactly how much more... When you hear a member of Congress described as more or less conservative than another, it's the ACU's voting index that is being cited. ACU sponsors the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC, the biggest event on conservatism's annual calendar... The leaders of...

Dennis Whitfield of the American Conservative Union has sent out a press release on today’s embarrassing Mike Allen story that alleges a pay-for-play proposal between the conservative group and FedEx. "" “An article containing a false headline has been published by Capitol Hill newspaper Politico today regarding an issue with expansion of the National Labor Relations Board. This article concerns two letters; one issued by ACU and another issued by a separate organization. Mr. David Keene’s name was on a letter prepared by another organization. This was a personal decision on his part and he was not representing ACU at...

The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a $2 million check in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay. In return for the $2 million, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)” The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” —...

David Keene, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union trashed Sarah Palin publicly today on NewsMax. However, a quick search of Mr. Keene's recent political contribution history reveals the following: David Keene, Managing Associate of the Carmen Group Lobbying Firm, and Head of ACU, Alexandria, VA. Political contributions in 2008 election cycle: KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 5/1/07 $1,000 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $800 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $200 Specter, Arlen (R) What I want to know is, how does a guy like this...

State of Conservatism by: Alanna Hultz, March 06, 2009 American Conservative Union (ACU) chairman David Keene addressed the National Press Club as part of the club’s Newsmaker series on the “State of Conservatism.” Keene said “in 2006-2008 the public was convinced it was time for a change and in 2008 the Republican brand was hurt because Republicans acted like moderates and liberals.” Keene said, “I don’t hope Obama will fail but I know his policies will fail because they are wrong.” He said Republicans need to get their policies together and not criticize a popular president. He argued that the...

Thursday, Nov 29, 2007 David Keene "The Laura Ingraham Show" 11/29/07 David Keene On His Endorsement Of Governor Mitt Romney: Laura Ingraham: "David, I know you made an announcement. I didn't reveal it to the listeners because I wanted you to tell us when you came on the show about who you were endorsing for the Republican nomination." David Keene: "Well, I decided earlier this week and announced this morning that I'm supporting Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. I came to that decision after a lot of thought. Early on in this process, I thought I'd stay neutral for...

Islamisation of David Keene, American Conservative Union June 27, 2007 David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), has been moving, along with several other paleo-conservatives like Dinesh D’Souza, towards a partnership with Saudi-funded, pro-Hamas institutions. A forewarning was the appointment of Grover Norquist to the ACU board. A second forewarning was the appointment of Suhail Khan to the ACU board. Then Tuesday, David Keene joined United for Peace and Justice, the ACLU, the Communist Party-USA, as a speaker in the “Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice” to “…call on Congress to restore habeas corpus, fix the...

Democrats who think they will ride to victory in November on a tide of outrage against an ill-conceived war foisted on the American public by a President who spun the intelligence available to justify action against a nation that was no threat to the U.S. may be about to get their comeuppance. President Bush's critics on the left vehemently reject the President's contention that Iraq's Saddam Hussein was actively collaborating with Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11 as either a fabrication designed to justify the use of military force to unseat the Iraqi dictator or proof that Bush just doesn't...

Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance; Checks on Invasive Federal Powers Essential 1/17/2006 6:36:00 PM To: National Desk Contact: Laura Brinker, 202-715-1540, for Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, laura.brinker@dittus.com WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances (PRCB) today called upon Congress to hold open, substantive oversight hearings examining the President's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA) to violate domestic surveillance requirements outlined in the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, chairman of PRCB, was joined by fellow conservatives Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform...

Human Events is expected to name their 2005 Man of the Year some time next week and I thought we would take a look at some of the possible contenders who helped shape the past year.2005 was very much a nascent turning point for the conservative movement and with 2008 seemingly getting closer everyday we must finsih what was started in 2005.Almost all of the candidates for Man Of the Year were part of the beginning stages of a revitalized conservative movement that was begun in 05 but will have to be finished in later years. Henry Hyde After thirty...

Harriet Miers’s confirmation hearings are about to begin, so we may be on the verge of learning something meaningful about the president’s choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. Or maybe we won’t. We haven’t learned much since she was named, and one suspects there might not be all that much more out there. I don’t know enough about Ms. Miers even to guess at her qualifications for the job to which she has been appointed. I’ve heard good and bad things about her from those who’ve dealt with her, and I’ve read reams of opinion...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Conservatives, liberals align against Patriot ActBy James G. LakelyTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished June 14, 2005 Conservative groups have found common ground with the liberal American Civil Liberties Union in their opposition to the USA Patriot Act and pledge to wage a high-profile fight against it, claiming even its renewal is shrouded in secrecy.     Former Rep. Bob Barr, who led conservative efforts to impeach President Clinton, is leading a group called "Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances" that is focused exclusively on opposing the renewal of the Patriot Act.     The effort also has the enthusiastic support of three...

The constant attacks on House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's character and ethics are an organized liberal campaign to demonize the Texas Republican: The goal is to cripple him as a leader or to force him out of his post as second in command among House Republicans. The campaign is being orchestrated outside Congress by a coalition of liberal interest groups financed by the usual suspects. They have taken to calling themselves the "Congressional Ethics Coalition" and claim they are non-partisan citizens' groups enraged by the "corruption" of the Republican Congress. The members of this coalition, however, are anything but non-partisan....

The left has come up with a target, and his name is Tom DeLay. He isn’t their first and won’t be their last, but for now he’s the Republican they hope to take down. They’ve tried in the past to do the same thing to others. Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and White House adviser Karl Rove have all been portrayed as ethically challenged and sleazy by the same folks who are now going after the House Republican leader from Texas. Trumped-up charges of illegality, paid ads and reports from ethics groups that are little more than fronts...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Not all conservatives are happy with the decision by Congress and President Bush to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. Some leaders said Tuesday the new law allowing a federal court review of the case is an example of the big government they have always opposed. "To simply say that the 'culture of life,' or whatever you call it means that we don't have to pay attention to the principles of federalism or separation of powers is certainly not a conservative viewpoint," said former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Allan Lichtman, who chairs the history department at American...

We are told that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan gasped when informed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that President Bush intends to send John Bolton to New York to represent this nation's interests before the world body. Annan had been hoping, no doubt, for someone more malleable who would politely look the other way or at least keep his mouth shut as the various scandals rocking the United Nations play out, someone more like departing Ambassador John Danforth. Danforth may have represented the Bush administration, but he was a team player who did little to upset things and he...

Most conservatives find my old friend, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), infuriating. They had worked their hearts out for his primary opponent, Rep. Pat Toomey, earlier this year, and when Specter was reelected to fifth term Nov. 2, they began demanding that his colleagues deny him the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 109th Congress. When Specter gave a post-election interview that some critics interpreted as a warning to President Bush against sending pro-life judicial nominees to a Specter-chaired Judiciary Committee, they thought they had the smoking gun they needed to get him. Since then, callers demanding Specter’s scalp...

David A. KeeneIt's up to the ground armies November 2, 2004 Four years ago, I was leaving an early-morning Election Day breakfast when I ran into Haley Barbour, who had left the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee some three years earlier.The race between Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush was very close, according to virtually every indicator, and we were all expecting the outcome to be determined by the get-out-the-vote effort the rival campaigns had put together. I asked Haley if the Bush campaign and his successors at the RNC had fielded an army capable...

I was asked some months ago by the proverbial “high administration official” what the Bush administration ought to say about Democratic charges that President Bush’s economic policies were not producing the jobs the nation needs. Remember all the talk about the “jobless” recovery that allowed corporations to return to profitability without generating new jobs? Bush was being compared to Herbert Hoover and we were told that his policies were actually designed to encourage American business to “outsource” jobs to places like India and Mexico. Democrats in general and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in particular seemed almost ecstatic every time there...

Back in 1980, the late Terry Dolan, chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC), asked me to head up an independent effort supporting Ronald Reagan’s campaign against President Jimmy Carter. Dolan felt he could raise substantial funds and quickly persuaded me to sign on. Independent expenditures of the sort we planned were perfectly legal as long as we resisted the temptation to coordinate any of our activities with the official campaign. We spent nearly $3 million (a lot of money in those days) and like to think we helped Reagan drive Carter from the White House. At about...