Free Republic

Many years ago, I went to the Central Lobby of the Houses of Parliament in London to keep an appointment with the almost picturesquely reactionary Conservative politician Alan Clark. He was the son of Kenneth (later Lord) Clark—the art historian and author of the Civilisation series—and the heir to Saltwood Castle, in Kent. He was also the author of a 1961 book, The Donkeys, which was a history of the British General Staff in the First World War. The title came from a famous comment that had supposedly been made at that epoch by a German military strategist. Told by...

by Mark Finkelstein August 21, 2006 - 08:17 This week is shaping up as the MSM's kick-off of its Hillary for President campaign. Using Time Magazine's 10th cover of Hillary as a springboard, this morning's Today show convened a liberal coffee klatsch on Clinton's political future. Dem pollster Peter Hart summed up the segment's zeitgest nicely: "I think Americans are ready for a female president. I think they are definitely ready for Hillary Clinton." Not a discouraging word was to be heard, as 'Today' found it unnecessary to invite to the party anyone who might have a negative view of...

Dispirited Democrats are doing what political losers usually do: self-flagellating. Foremost... is figuring out... how to reach those red-state voters?... • The issue is not getting evangelical Christian conservatives; they are to the Republican base what African-Americans are to Democrats. Rather, it is about getting a respectable share of the small-town and exurban working- and middle-class folks, many of them regular church-goers, who should be aligned more with Democrats on economics and health care. • The debate already is veering into false choices: Stick to principles and don't change because we're right or change your views on gays, guns, God...

WASHINGTON, May 18 — The ferocity of the White House counterattack this week, when confronted by criticism that President Bush and his top advisers knew more than the public about hijacking threats before Sept. 11, is a sure sign that they recognize the political danger should Democrats press the issue through the coming election campaign. Mr. Bush's political team appeared to sense that taking the question to the voters might backfire on the Democrats, with the president, and by implication his party, suffering no lasting political damage from the disclosures of the past week. The central question is where the...