Free Republic

In his recent memoir, Alan Greenspan says he's been pushing a constitutional amendment of his own devising. It reads: "Anyone willing to do what is required to become president of the United States is thereby barred from taking that office." If the Greenspan amendment is ever enacted, it will at last clear the field for Fred Thompson, who might then become president. But not until then.

Ezra Klein has a smart article on the troubling news that advocates of national health care have a much better sense of how to enact their desire if they win the White House. Next time, they won't try to cut congressional committees out of the action. They understand now that most people are happy with their own health-care arrangements and don't want to see Washington disrupt them. It is harder to argue that Hillary Clinton's current plan, for example, threatens what people value about their own health care than it was to make that argument about her 1993-94 plan. (It's...

The United States, with its claims of exceptionalism, is usually thought of as free of historical analogies. But comparisons with the fate of earlier empires are becoming more common. I have recently been struck by an analogy from German history: the disaster of German leadership during the first world war, epitomised by Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1888, at just 29, Wilhelm became the leader of a country on the cusp of European mastery. Wilhelm flaunted his absolute power, believing it to be divinely ordained, was contemptuous of parliament, revelled in the trappings of power, and delighted in uniforms. He was...

DOVER, N.H. — As they barnstorm through New Hampshire, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband are often introduced by supporters who once backed another candidate but converted to her cause. Today, in Dover, Francine Torge, a former John Edwards supporter, said this while introducing Mrs. Clinton: “Some people compare one of the other candidates to John F. Kennedy. But he was assassinated. And Lyndon Baines Johnson was the one who actually” passed the civil rights legislation. The comment, an apparent reference to Senator Barack Obama, is particularly striking given documented fears among blacks that Mr. Obama will be assassinated...

Nothing has been more instructive in modern American politics than Mike Huckabee's surge to victory in Iowa and semi-seriousness as a contender for the presidency. I hedge with "semi" because Huckabee likely will come in a distant third to fifth Tuesday in New Hampshire, which will temper, at least for a week or two, his momentum. For the moment, though, here are four powerful Huckabee-demonstrated lessons: 1. Go where the voters are. The conventional wisdom was that Huckabee was erring by abandoning Iowa on caucus eve to do "The Tonight Show." But consider what James Carville told me the morning...

What We Learned From The Iowa Caucuses By John Ziegler That where candidates stand on the issues matter far less (if at all) than how likable they are and how nice their skin looks. That all the old rules of Presidential politics no longer apply. That strong and real opposition to illegal immigration is not as important to Republicans in Iowa as we were told. That even some liberals really can’t stand Hillary Clinton. That Oprah’s endorsement is more powerful to Democrats than Bill Clinton’s. That when you are bombarded with too many political ads and candidate visits for too...

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf: Up until now, Musharraf had been seen by some as a genuine US ally in the war on terrorism, despite having cut deals with terrorists to keep them out of his hair and in the northern part of his country where they could make bombing runs into Afghanistan. However, when these terrorists came into town this past summer to grab some hostages and make trouble for Musharraf in the Red Mosque standoff because they wanted Sharia law in Islamabad, Musharraf’s policy of negotiating with them was proven to be a joke.

There are lessons to be learned from the dazzling success of the surge strategy in Iraq. Lesson one is that just about no mission is impossible for the United States military. A year ago it was widely thought, not just by the new Democratic leaders in Congress but also in many parts of the Pentagon, that containing the violence in Iraq was impossible. Now we have seen it done. We have seen this before in American history. George Washington's forces seemed on the brink of defeat many times in the agonizing years before Yorktown. Abraham Lincoln's generals seemed so unsuccessful...

There are lessons to be learned from the dazzling success of the surge strategy in Iraq. Lesson one is that just about no mission is impossible for the United States military. A year ago it was widely thought, not just by the new Democratic leaders in Congress but also in many parts of the Pentagon, that containing the violence in Iraq was impossible. Now we have seen it done. We have seen this before in American history. George Washington's forces seemed on the brink of defeat many times in the agonizing years before Yorktown. Abraham Lincoln's generals seemed so unsuccessful...

The assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto illustrates the fragility of the current international order in the face of the radical Islamist threat. Pakistan is an Islamic country with nuclear weapons and security services that contain many sympathizers with the Taliban and al-Qaida. It is hardly clear that the massive US investment in the Musharraf government as a bulwark against these same jihadi groups will be sustainable. Bhutto was murdered by a suicide bomber who shot her before blowing himself up, killing some dozen of her supporters. This bombing followed two others in October from which Bhutto escaped unharmed,...

Benazir Bhutto is dead, assassinated Thursday at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan: "Bhutto, 54, was leaving the rally in her bulletproof vehicle when she asked that the rooftop hatch be opened so she could bid supporters farewell, aides who were with her said. She leaned her head through the hatch, and several gunshots rang out, an aide seated next to her said. Just as Bhutto sank into her seat, a large bomb detonated outside the vehicle. The left side of Bhutto’s face was badly bloodied, aides said, but it was not clear whether she’d been hit by bullets or...

Ron Paul is no compassionate conservative. His supporters love him for it. If there's been a phenomenon in this Republican presidential race, it's been the strength of a fiery doctor from Texas and his message of limited government. As the GOP front-runners address crowds of dispirited primary voters, Mr. Paul has been tearing across the country, leaving a trail of passionate devotees in his wake. Paul rallies heave with voters waving placards and shouting "Liberty! Liberty!" Money is pouring in from tens of thousands of individual donors--so much cash that the 10-term congressman recently admitted he wasn't sure he could...

 Nov. 20, 2007 based on the following news stories: Karl Rove: How to beat Hillary next November     This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  iowapresidentialwatch.com

WHAT CONSERVATIVES SHOULD LEARN FROM 9/11. Right Turn by Andrew Sullivan These are heady times for conservatism. The last 20 years have seen a decisive shift in the West toward market economics and away from statist intervention. The welfare state as it has historically been understood is an endangered species. Culturally, the importance of family structure, religious faith, and personal responsibility is affirmed by a wider array of people than for a generation. And with September 11, the bedrock conservative insight that the world is an inherently dangerous place has been decisively proved once again. Even the democratic left has ...

FEMA and other US agencies seem to have improved their emergency response since the 2005 Katrina fiasco. Curbside service: Firefighters caught some rest Tuesday after battling wildfires near San Diego. Lucy Nicholson/ReutersLos Angeles and San Diego - In a dark corridor of Qualcomm Stadium, Jennifer Dillon of Rancho Bernardo, Calif., watches her 6-year-old daughter Molly sleep on a cot supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mother and daughter are surrounded by evacuees from across San Diego, most of whom tote a few items – shirts, towels, stuffed animals – inside backpacks or shoulder bags. "This time around, the county...

The fires in CA are horrendous by any measure. Personally, I believe they are an event full of import for FREEPERS, CONSERVATIVES and AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANS in California and across the Nation. Whether it is fires; hurricanes; Jihadi attacks; bird flu; meteors; crash-of-the-dollar; pine beetle; quakes; volcanos; swarms of tornados tsunamis . . . NWO or whatever . . . there appears to be plenty on our plate in this era. We have had tastes with 9/11 and Katrina . . . some tornado swarms . . . these fires . . . tastes of how massively devastating disasters natural, 'happenstance'...

1. Don't Be a 'Marginal Moron' I have a theory I call The Marginal Moron Rule, meaning: Whenever a market reaches peak levels of speculation, the last entrants into that market lack the necessary knowledge or sophistication to properly navigate their newly chosen field. As my old boss Joe at Merrill Lynch would say, "These are the guys who take the last nickel off the table." During the height of the technology and Internet boom, there were schoolteachers, doctors, attorneys, housewives and police officers who left their daily roles to take up daytrading. Their fundamental knowledge of investing was practically...

Finance is an endlessly fascinating topic. It involves history, intuition, logic, mathematics, and hope. But for most of us, our finances come from work and not from investments. In turn, how we do at work is vitally affected by the kind of education we get -- and most especially what we get out of our education. And what we get out of our education is very largely dependent on what we put into our education. The Son Also Rises This comes to mind because classes are starting soon in many colleges. (How did it get to be so early? When...

We shouldn't once again wait too long to admit our mistake and leave In the scheme of small protests, I suppose what I did the other day qualifies. I was in one of those little catchall stores, the kind that sells candles and clothes and cheap jewelry. It was a necklace that caught my eye. A tiny peace symbol suspended from a plain pewter chain. Oh, please, you say. How very Vietnam. I know. I mean, I really know. In 1970, I was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign when the National Guard descended on the campus....

MINEOLA, N.Y., Sept. 19, 2007 – The reason the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Chaminade High School here was on the wall as he entered the building today: a simple plaque with the names of graduates killed in combat. Rev. James C. Williams and Marine Gen. Peter Pace look at photos of graduates of Chaminade High School who have been killed in combat. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited the Mineola, N.Y., school Sept. 19, 2007, and met with Gold Star families. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution...