Free Republic

The AP’s political analyst Ron Fournier attempts to put his finger on a sour note creeping into the Barack Obama campaign. Despite the near-adulation Obama has received from the press and his fainting fans on the campaign trail, something off-putting has begun to seep from the interactions of both Barack and Michelle Obama in public His diagnosis — arrogance: He’s bordering on arrogance.The dictionary defines the word as an “offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.” Obama may not be offensive or overbearing, but he can be a bit too cocky for his own good. …But both Obama and...

A bit of inspirational vision from Thomas Jefferson. A dose of national supremacy from James Monroe. Theodore Roosevelt's bully pulpit, Ronald Reagan's folksy charm and Bill Clinton's empathy. Add it all up and what have you got? The ultimate president. Of course, there's no such thing as a perfect chief executive, but that doesn't stop Americans from looking for one in the bits and pieces of presidents past. A Frankenstein president might look like this: HONESTY: George Washington didn't chop down the cherry tree, but he was an honorable man. Mason Locke Weems made up the story as a parable...

WASHINGTON - Ted Kennedy did more than welcome Barack Obama into the warm embrace of his legendary family. He also consigned the Clintons and their brass-knuckle brand of politics to the past. "With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion," the Massachusetts senator said Monday in endorsing Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. "With Barack Obama, we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay." In an eloquent speech laced with stinging subtleties, Kennedy called Sen....

The real story of the night was the unexpected fight which emerged, out of right field, between Senator Fred Thompson and Governor Mike Huckabee. It was started by Thompson and aimed squarely at stopping the growing momentum of Huckabee.

EDITORIAL: Debate? Debacle? Or Defining Moment? By Deacon Keith Fournier 12/1/2007 Catholic Online Overall, the CNN “You Tube” Republican debate, as a debate, was a debacle. However, it may prove to be a defining moment in the Republican effort to resist what only recently seemed like an inevitable Democratic victory in 2008 in the campaign for the White House. LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - Along with the largest audience to view any Presidential debate this year, I watched the entire “You Tube” Republican debate this past week, from start to finish and beyond. In fact, I watched all the way...

REVIEW: 'Bella' is Beautiful By Deacon Keith Fournier 11/20/2007 Catholic Online This movie is about 'Bella', the Italian (and Latin) word for beauty. Bella is also the name of a child through whose eyes we finally see the mystery and meaning of it all as the film concludes.Those who watch this beautiful film are invited to live their lives more beautifully, and live them differently, by making the choice to love. LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - I entered the theater with great expectations. Bella exceeded them all. As is the case with many of the showings of this limited release...

DES MOINES, Iowa - This was going to be a column that spoke truth to power, that criticized the top presidential candidates and shed light in a maelstrom of spin. But then Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton called such attempts "piling on." Swift Boating. Sexist. So let's just call this unsolicited advice, and hope that the Democratic front-runner doesn't notice. First, for the Democrats: CLINTON: You're smart, funny, qualified and more personable than most voters realize. So go with that. Stop letting your strategists tie you in knots with their polls, focus groups and microtargeting. It's brilliant stuff, but they're...

Nobody can dispute that Barack Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start and, with striking prescience, predicted U.S. troops would be mired in a costly conflict that fanned "the flames of the Middle East." But nobody should accept at face value the Illinois senator's claim that he was a "courageous leader" who opposed the war at great political risk. The truth is that while Obama showed foreign policy savvy and an ability to keenly analyze both sides of an issue in his October 2002 warnings on Iraq, the political upside of his position rivaled any risk. And, once elected...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Alberto Gonzales was a case study in cronyism, a nice guy and presidential pal who became attorney general on the strength of those two credentials. He was not up to the job. In the end, Gonzales' greatest achievement may be that he produced a rare note of unanimity among Republicans and Democrats in Washington: They agree his tenure was an unmitigated failure. "Reasonable people have been saying since the spring that Gonzales should resign, and four months later everybody says this should have happened a long time ago," said Republican consultant Joe Gaylord. "My guess is the...

Democratic presidential candidates argued Saturday night that organized labor is an essential part of the nation's economy whose troubles mirror the deterioration of the middle class way of life. "The only way to reinvigorate the middle class is to reinvigorate the labor movement," Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware told several hundred union members at a labor forum in eastern Iowa.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is too experienced, Sen. Barack Obama too raw. Listening to Democrats give their Goldilocks view of the 2008 presidential campaign must make voters wonder: Will any candidate be just right for the White House? "Senator Obama does represent change. Senator Clinton has experience. Change and experience," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Sunday, making a balancing gesture with his hands. "With me, you get both." Richardson may be a long shot for the nomination, but his crack underscored a question that dominated the latest presidential debate: A change versus experience dynamic that almost surely will determine...

(AP) Karl Rove deserves as much credit for spoiling George W. Bush's presidency as he does for creating it _ which is to say he had a lot to do with both. The strategist's political genius helped make Bush president. His arrogance helped make Bush a lame duck. "Rove is the model for all future presidential advisers _ disciplined, smart and personally tight with the commander in chief. With that power comes all of the negative baggage when policy and governing failures erupt out of control," said Republican consultant Scott Reed. "He has kept remarkably cool as the GOP has...

Looking past the presidential nomination, Democratic leaders quietly fear that Sen. Hillary Clinton at the top of their 2008 ticket could hurt candidates at the bottom. They say the former First Lady may be too polarizing for much of the country. In more than 40 interviews, Democratic candidates, consultants and party chairmen form every region pointed to internal polls that give Clinton strikingly high unfavorable ratings in places with key congressional and state races. "I'm not sure it would be fatal in Indiana, but she would be a drag," said Indiana Democratic state rep. Dave Crooks. Speaking anonymously, a Midwest...

The religious right is over as a movement. the "Catholic vote" is up for grabs. The current field of candidates is weak. The pundits of the so called "conservative" movement have lost any sense of where pro-life people truly are and are worthless in their analysis If the Republicans hope to win, they have to nominate Brownback, Huckabee or someone else. If they nominate Guliani the "religious right-conservative alliance" is deader than cement.The author reflects the frustration of many who previously voted Republican and may form a new party if the Republicans nominate Guliani.

WASHINGTON - Lies from the White House. Incompetence in treating wounded veterans. Irrelevance in Congress. Can't anybody do anything right? It's days like these that turn Americans sour on government, stoking a desire for leaders who actually lead. Exhibit A is the perjury conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, whose trial cast unflattering light on the Bush White House and the mainstream media. Exhibit B is the shameful treatment of wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Medical Center, and the likelihood that veterans care problems are systemic — a national disgrace. And let's not forget Iraq and...

Rocky Balboa: The Heart of a Champion By: Deacon Keith A. Fournier Rocky Balboa is the Crown of the Rocky Series. It is an enduring tribute to the power of love, loyalty and perseverance. It opened on December 20, 2006 and is a wonderful Christmas gift for all. Introduction I must admit, I was more than excited! From the moment I received the correspondence inviting me to join with “faith and values” leaders for a private pre-release screening of Rocky Balboa, followed by an opportunity to meet with Sylvester “Sly” Stallone after the film, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm....

February 1, 2006 From: Deacon Keith Fournier For Distribution Attached is my public statement concerning my decision to disassociate from Traditional Catholic Reflections and Reports (http://www.tcrnews2.com) over its decision to call for the impeachment of the President and certain members of his cabinet today. I wish Stephen Hand only the Lords' best as he seeks to follow his personal conscience. I strongly disagree with his position. Too often, such disagreements between Christians are treated with hostility. That is not how we have approached this. We are joined as faithful Catholic Christians. We simply disagree - strongly - over this important...

WASHINGTON - The state of the union is fretful. President Bush acknowledged the public's agitated state Tuesday night when he gave voice to growing concerns about the course of the nation he has led for five years. His credibility no longer the asset it once was, the president begged Americans' indulgence for another chance to fix things. There is no shortage: the Iraq war, global terrorism, a nuclear Iran, a stingy global economy, skyrocketing health care costs, troubled U.S. schools, rising fuel costs, looming budget deficits and government corruption. All received presidential attention Tuesday night. In his fifth State of...

WASHINGTON - No more rosy scenarios. After watching his credibility and approval ratings crumble over the course of 2005, President Bush completed a rhetorical shift Sunday night by abandoning his everything-is-OK pitch to Americans and coming clean: He was wrong about the rationale for going to war in Iraq; he underestimated the dangers; the country has suffered "terrible loss"; and the bad news isn't over. Even with his high-profile display of candor _ a step anxious Republican leaders had been demanding for weeks _ Bush remained unyielding. "To retreat before victory would be an act of recklessness and dishonor and...

I am reading an Associated Press story by Ron Fournier about the nomination of Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. I am confused by one editorial point that Fournier seemed to make in the copy: "There is a lot more to do with a woman's right to choose than how you feel about it personally," he said. Specter cited adherence to legal precedent in view of a series of rulings over 30 years upholding abortion rights. With no sign of irony, Republicans demanded that Alito get a vote in the Senate - something they denied Miers. "Let's give Judge Alito...