Free Republic

John McCain is not a normal conservative. He has instincts, but few abstract convictions about the proper size of government. He’s a traditionalist, but is not energized by the social conservative agenda. As Rush Limbaugh understands, but the Democrats apparently do not, a McCain administration would not be like a Bush administration. The main axis in McCain’s worldview is not left-right. It’s public service versus narrow self-interest. Throughout his career, he has been drawn to those crusades that enabled him to launch frontal attacks on the concentrated powers of selfishness — whether it was the big money donors who exploited...

By Tony Thornton Staff Writer MUSKOGEE — The John McCain biographies are replete with information about his paternal grandfather, a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. His maternal grandfather, Archibald Wright? Not so much. Nancy Calhoun thinks she knows why. "This is one skeleton that the McCains probably wish would stay in the closet,” said Calhoun, who is director of genealogy and local history at the Muskogee Public Library. Wright spent more than two decades in Muskogee. His twin daughters, including McCain's mother, Roberta Wright McCain, grew up in a three-story home that still stands at 1027 W Martin Luther...

Worth The Fighting For Author: John McCain Upcoming Schedule Sunday, August 31, at 10:00 PM About the Program Join Book TV as we follow Sen. John McCain for two days in Chicago, while he promotes his memoir, "Worth the Fighting For." It's a follow-up to his earlier book, "Faith of My Fathers," and describes his experiences after his release from Vietnam as a prisoner of war to the U.S. Senate, and his recent campaign for President. The book also includes portraits of men who inspired him: Theodore Roosevelt, aviation maverick Billy Mitchell, Emiliano Zapata, and The Yankee's Ted Williams.

-- snip --Mr. Obama is doomed to defeat. His best efforts to camouflage his left-wing associations will not work. He can flip-flop on issue after issue in the vain hope he will deceive Americans. Yet he is clearly a liar and a phony, a false messiah. He will not lead the Democrats - or the country - to the Promised Land: He has no credibility. Mr. McCain will win - and win big - in November.

For the record I voted for Sarah Palin in the FR poll, but was disapointed that only 40% of FReepers agreed with me.. I would like to see a new FR poll asking how many FReepers are happy with Sarah Palin.. I bet it would be 90% ---- the same as her approval rating in Alaska.... and soon to be her approval in the USA !! On another note I wonder if anyone is making bumber stickers that say Vote for Sarah PALIN for VP... because come November that is what I will be doing... John McCain is tha “baggage”...

Republicans in Congress this June united to defeat a proposed windfall tax on oil companies, deriding it as a bad idea that would discourage investment in U.S. oil exploration. Things worked out far differently in the GOP stronghold of Alaska, a state whose economic fate is closely tied to the oil industry. Over the opposition of oil companies, Republican Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska's Legislature last year approved a major increase in taxes on the oil industry — a step that has generated stunning new wealth for the state as oil prices soared.

McCain's admirers, and they are legion, think of him as a man of valor... whose evident obsession with the virtues of honor, courage, faith and duty make him an ideal soldier of freedom to keep the watches of the night against terrorist enemies, and to stand fast in Iraq. His foes, and they, too, are legion, would like to cast him as a relic of a long-ago era whose... time has passed. [snip] Neither caricature, however, has the man who will accept the Republican nomination...exactly right.

Return to the Article August 30, 2008McCain and the OODA LoopBy Charlie Martin Man, is this guy a fighter pilot, or what? There are two military concepts here that explain the (absolutely spectacular) choice of Governor Sarah Palin.  Both of them are important to the training of a fighter pilot, and while one of them wasn't formulated until after McCain's flying career was over, it was an observation based on what fighter pilots had to know. One of them is the "envelope" -- which is to say the parameters within which a fighter airplane must operate.  The envelope can...

What: Road to the Convention Rally: Washington, PA - August 30 When: August 30, 2008 3:00 PM Where: Consol Energy Park 1 Washington Federal Way Washington, PA15301

Here is video of Gov. Sarah Palin's remarks today after the announcement that John McCain has chosen her to be his Vice-Presidential running mate. Outstanding speech!!!!! . . . (see video at link)

August is rolling over into September and, before we know it, election day will be upon us. Perhaps it is merely my impression, but most here on FR seem to have settled down with the idea of John McCain both as the Republican nominee (which he is certain to be, regardless) and, even, as President of the United States. The initial candidate debate has all but faded and virtually all here have gelled back into the Republican camp instead of the "Republicans for Romney", "Republicans for Giuliani", "Republicans for Hunter", etc. ad nauseum, ad infinitum. No doubt, this is precisely...

The mainstream media and democratic party will be paying close attention to the reaction the conservative blogosphere has for McCain's Vice-Presidential pick. So, please, regardless of whom he picks, let's not give them any fodder. The last thing we need to hear from Chris Matthews is "Conservatives are outraged over this pick. Here's just a sampling of posts on the conservative blog Freerepublic..."

(snip) A Republican National Committee rules committee in April gave initial backing to a plan to spread out the primaries to avoid the creation of a de facto national primary. But the plan approved by the RNC's full rules committee Wednesday in Minneapolis rejected the so-called Ohio Plan in favor of a system allowing most states to hold primaries in March. Bennett has been critical of such a system, which he says creates a national primary that focuses attention on a few big media markets. It also encourages early campaigning, more spending and less contact with the average voter, Bennett...

(CNN) – A health care policy adviser for the McCain campaign told a newspaper reporter that nobody in the United States is technically uninsured, because everyone has access to hospital emergency rooms. "So I have a solution [to the health care crisis]. And it will cost not one thin dime," John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, told the Dallas Morning News in an interview published Thursday.

John McCain's Imprisonment in Vietnam: A True Tale of Heroism James Ray Have you ever heard the whole account of John McCain's imprisonment during the Vietnam War? Until recently, I was only aware of the general story; I didn't know the details. But I recently read a couple of pieces on McCain's capture, imprisonment and torture by the North Vietnamese, and it blew me away. Not since Ernest Shackleton's cursed journey to the South Pole have I heard a tale of such courage, mental toughness and physical endurance. The Young John McCain The Crash and Capture In October of 1967,...

SAN FRANCISCO -- If John McCain is elected president, wounded veterans could be in for a world of hurt. On the campaign trail, the Republican's presumptive nominee has talked of a new mission for the Department of Veterans Affairs, suggesting that veterans with noncombat medical problems be given vouchers to receive care at private, for-profit hospitals. In other words, McCain is seeking to cut off the kind of universal health care that the government has guaranteed to veterans for generations. "We need to relieve the burden on the VA from routine health care," McCain told the National Forum on Disability...

John McCain went to the vault from the Democratic primaries and found a treasure trove of comments from Democrats on the unreadiness of Barack Obama to lead the nation. It includes the comments we’ve seen before from Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, but adds Chris Dodd and others — including perhaps the most effective spokesman:

It better be good. The GOP has a lot of making up to do and it NEEDS to present a strong conservative message especially in the areas of limited government and drilling. And McCain had better pick a good VP. I don't know what emotion I'd call it, but I'm definitely ready to watch this convention.

Weekly Radio Address For the week of August 23, 2008. No one is above the law, and no one is beneath its protection. Upholding these principles, and bringing Americans together on the side of life, is the work of leadership. And I can assure you that if I am elected president, advancing the cause of life will not be above my pay grade.

Beverly Hills - IT'S NOT OFTEN that you feel sorry for a guy driving a brand new, silver Porsche 911 Turbo convertible. But that was exactly my thought as I sat outside of the Beverly Hilton last night watching Hollywood Republicans arrive at a fundraiser for John McCain. The luxury cars parked around the front valet circle of the famous hotel must have been worth $3 million. Among many others, there were matching red and white Bentley convertibles, several styles of oversized Mercedes that I'd never seen before and a powder blue Rolls Royce with "We Will Never Forget" license...