Free Republic

The Houston telephone book lists more than 16,000 lawyers, some clearly more famous than others. Very few – perhaps only one – can credibly claim to have helped pull the hand brake on a presidential campaign. John O'Neill had his day on the national stage 33 years ago, but this year he emerged from the weeds of his comfortable anonymity because of a burning belief that John Kerry would make an awful commander in chief – and had to be stopped. Love him or hate him, Mr. O'Neill turned a presidential election on its ear. For his drive, vision and...

But they won't be talking about those stories around the watercooler today. Instead, chances are good that many more will discussing Christmas plans, this weekend's football games, and former "Saturday Night Live" star Chevy Chase's tirade at the Kennedy Center. But it was Mr. Chase who lost control of just about everything this side of his bowels when he delivered a broadside against President Bush. He started by calling the President a "dumb f_ _ _."

My conservative friends continue to tell me that the liberals (who just lost the election) “just don’t get it.” That is, liberals “don’t get” the destructiveness of the American Civil Liberties Union’s relentless efforts to ban any allusion to Christianity and any mention of God in a country that is 96 percent Christian. They “don’t get” that the vote recounts in Ohio and elsewhere – which are costing taxpayers millions of dollars – are not, as they claim, to insure the sanctity of the voting process, but rather a colossal example of sour grapes at its worst.

Following the Republican landslide victories of the 1994 midterm elections, conservatives watched in amazement as Republican “moderates” proceeded to completely squander the ground they had gained, culminating in the defeat of Bob Dole in ‘96. In the aftermath of this year’s elections, ominous signs point towards a repeat performance. Apparently, Republican Party operatives didn’t really comprehend why, in the middle of Bill Clinton’s first term, they won big. And to this day, political analysts still don’t seem to grasp the situation. Among conservatives, the conventional wisdom is that the newly realigned GOP Congressional majority had wrongly presumed too much of...

Did you really believe we’re too stupid to see, How you tried to deceive us with smug sophistry? Did you actually think we’d accept without thinking, That our ship of state’s hulled, our economy’s sinking? We saw how with help from your media tools, You picked just the right captain for your ship of fools. With your Cambodian Admiral at the helm of your boat You needed an ocean of lies just to keep him afloat. You put forward no spokesman with a true honest voice And offered the voters no acceptable choice. Your party got “jacked” by the loons...

Among the things that were brought to light during the recent Presidential campaign was what I would term the "unconscious message" that the Democrats sent to Americans. This unconscious message was a function of, primarily, two things: The impact of standard-bearers — including Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, and Whoopi Goldberg, among many others — who, because of their high profile, came to represent what the Democrat Party stood for to many Americans; and some of the tactics which the Democrats allowed to be employed in the name of electing their candidate. Indeed, while many high-profile Democratic spokespeople might have gotten...

According to Brian Yates of the Louisville Patriot, one of the many marxist professors at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, is suffering from the newly discovered affliction called "post election selection syndrome". On the Thursday following the presidential election of 2004, he told his class, "It was the religious zealots who say they are voting on morals. I think we should all buy AK47’s and shoot them all! That’s what I would suggest, if it were allowed." He has to go buy a gun? That's a shame. I guess, as long as the coming Revolution waits a few days...

Just when you thought the 2004 presidential election was over, just when you thought it was time to move on towards other news stories, just when you thought the left was finally through with their whining and carping, just when you thought all that was done, here comes Je$$e Jackson. Yes, yes, my friends the supreme race-pimp himself, Je$$e Jackson, has found another way to get free airtime and free publicity. I guess he could not stand not having cameras on him for too long, because he is in Ohio stirring up tensions and dividing people, which is, of course,...

The role of moral values in the Bush victory has been the subject of countless stories. The New York Times reports that Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, said that "opposition to gay marriage was one of the most powerful forces in American politics today and that politicians ignored it at their peril." That's fascinating, coming from a paper that crusades for homosexual marriage and runs "wedding" announcements of homosexual couples. Obviously, the media are ignoring this "powerful force" of opposition to homosexual marriage, and have done so for years. In all 11 states, Rove noted, anti-homosexual marriage amendments or...

ODE TO THE LEFT BE-HEINZ When polls were closed, We all supposed It couldn't be much closer! Now Libs are torn, downcast...Forlorn, And poor Soros moroser! The votes were cast, And now at last The counting would begin. Monsieur LaMoore Was very sure His flick would do George in. But now instead, The states are Red, And Hollywood is Blue. Ben Affleck's mad, Sarandon's sad, And Whoopi's come unglued! Begala whines, The Left Be-Heinz, "The Boss" just wonders..."HOW?" James Carville pouts, O'Donnell shouts... No time to ketchup now! The Kerry crowd Was brash and loud; The cool and hip were...

In this time of traditional thanksgiving for the families, friendships, freedoms and bounties we enjoy, it's only appropriate that we Republicans - in the spirit of appreciation, graciousness, charity and comity - give thanks to those whose contributions were instrumental in securing control of both houses of Congress, a majority of governorships, a plurality of state legislatures, a clear majority of the popular vote (for the first time in 16 years) and, of course, the re-election of President George W. Bush. Thank you, Terry McAullife. You will no doubt be remembered as the worst-ever chairman of the Democratic National Committee....

From Maureen Dowd's brother Kevin, a salesman who lives in Montgomery County, Md., here is a recent e-mail message, trimmed for space, he sent to friends: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Now, just as four years ago, I breathe a huge sigh of relief and rejoice in the common sense of the American voting public. Congratulations to President Bush for winning re-election in a poker game played with a stacked deck. No candidate, including Richard Nixon, ever had to endure the biased and unfair tactics of our major media in their attempt to influence the outcome of an election. He never complained,...

In the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, liberals raged at the ''injustice'' of the Electoral College. Consequently, they demanded the standard ''ix,'' echoed every four years, of amending the Constitution to select the president by popular vote. But although conservatives breathed a sigh of relief in 2000, the delayed determination of Ohio’s vote this year, and its decisive role in President Bush’s reelection, predictably resulted in rumblings from the right that, indeed the Electoral College needs to be discarded. Once again however, the wisdom of the founders has been made evident, for those who are willing to recognize it....

Predictably, many on the Left responded to my column, “Bring Back HUAC,” by accusing me of stifling dissent. I addressed these concerns in the second paragraph: Debate, protest and even conscientious objection to war are essential elements of our political system, which is why such activities are protected by our Constitution. Treason is taking up arms against our nation, or giving aid and comfort to our enemies. Sedition is actively encouraging acts of treason. Treasonous and seditious activities are illegal; they are not protected as free speech. I never expect liberals to debate me on what I actually said. These...

Some blogs were wrong about the meaning of the exit polls but right about CBS. Engberg conveniently ignored the fact that the media were wrong about the 2000 election calls. Jay Evensen, editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page, calls the 2000 election night a "perfect storm." "It was when we in the news business had to hunt for the Dramamine because of the motion sickness," he recalls. One wonders what Engberg would say about Cleveland anchor Sharon Reed of WOIO, who decided to go naked for a story in a craven race for ratings during November's sweeps.

Throughout the 2004 campaigns, the Democrats continued to practice one basic message. Each day, they got up and called George W. Bush a liar. Some Democrats carried these sentiments a step farther, labeling the President as a murderer and a war criminal. Liberal financier George Soros associated the Bush administration with Nazi Germany. In most political situations, men such as Mr. Soros would be alienated by any political party. However, as he made these statements, he was introduced by none other than New York Senator and 2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. However, most liberals have situated themselves with a more...

Since Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter for the Presidency of the United States, Republicans have won 5 out of the last 7 presidential contests. Since 1994, the Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress. While the 2000 presidential election has been sited as the “closest” in history (it was not) and, on those grounds, liberals would have the country believe that we are “deeply divided,” the 2004 election brings into focus a movement in the country that has been going on for some time. While liberals do not like very much the trumpeting of the “red” against the “blue” in...

OH, the poor, suffering little children. If we are to believe the outcry of the past two weeks, America's youth have been defiled en masse - again. This time the dirty deed was done by the actress Nicollette Sheridan, who dropped her towel in the cheesy promotional spot for the runaway hit "Desperate Housewives" that kicked off "Monday Night Football" on ABC. "I wonder if Walt Disney would be proud," said Michael Powell, the Federal Communications Commission chairman who increasingly fashions himself a commissar of all things cultural, from nipple rings to "Son of Flubber." It's beginning to look a...

"Hi. Are you nuts? "Forgive me for being so blunt, but your reaction to our reelection of President Bush has been so outrageous that I'm wondering if you have quite literally lost your minds. One of Britain's largest newspapers ran a headline asking "How Can 59 Million Americans Be So Dumb?", and commentators in France all seemed to use the same word - bizarre -- to explain the election's outcome to their readers. In Germany the editors of Die Tageszeitung responded to our vote by writing that "Bush belongs at a war tribunal - not in the White House." And...

Apparently Senator John Edwards had a close brush with the truth some months back, though like the proverbial ''broken clock'' that shows the correct time twice each day, he didn’t linger for long on the cusps of reality. According to Edwards, we live in a split society, which he described as the ''two Americas.'' Edwards attempted to portray this nation as being divided between the ''haves'' and the ''have nots,'' by which he delineated between those who are financially well-off, as opposed to others who struggle to make ends meet. However, another far more insidious divide exists across the nation,...