Free Republic

Since Rush's passing I have found it very hard to find a substitute to listen to. Rush is irreplaceable but searching the Internet I have come across some people that I look forward to watching every time they post something. The most popular one I have found is Mark Dice. He has some really cutting humor much as Rush was capable of delivering on a daily basis. He has some great insights as well. The sleeper that I have found is Brittany Hughes on MRC-TV. She is brilliant. She is the mother of two and the wife of a soldier....

It's early days, and a few people who will likely be running haven't formally announced yet. But I think it's worth looking at Republican contenders for the White House and giving you my initial impressions. I'll be looking at Democrats in a subsequent article. Senator Ted Cruz was the first to announce, and of course caught an initial blast from the Left's media hacks. We certainly can't dignify them with the term 'journalist since so many of them are simply Leftist activists with access to a microphone or a byline. Expect them to ignore blatant violations of law by the...

It may be just a wee bit early to say that Hillary Clinton has blown her chance at the Democratic presidential nomination, but it’s not too late to address the exploding amazement of the political pundit class over the ineptness of her campaign. Rarely has a storyline been, in such equal parts, so dominant and fun to read. How did the Clinton people manage to run such an embarrassingly bad campaign? Inquiring minds want to know. But it’s really not that hard to figure out. In truth, they had nothing to work with – a problem that was only exacerbated...

William Safire is one of the most respected political prognosticators in the business, a fact that never seemed less true than when he was asked on Meet the Press about Hillary Clinton's potential running mate. What about Rahm Emanuel, the most powerful voice in the House of Representatives that agrees with Hillary Clinton on foreign affairs? He's a hawk. And although he's a rootin' tootin' liberal on domestic affairs, he is a hawk on foreign affairs. I was at a roast for him for Epilepsy Association, and Hillary Clinton was there, and I said, quite frankly, here you have the...

November 7, 2006 -- THE screenwriter William Goldman changed history in Hollywood with three simple words: "Nobody knows anything." He was giving a simple and profound explanation for why some movies succeed and others fail. His answer: Nobody knows anything until the audience decides. In the world of political punditry, it's time to invoke the Goldman rule. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of high-profile blabbermouths out there (me included) trying to tell you which way the electorate is going to go. Chances are, if you're reading these words, you are the sort of person who pays attention to our blabber-mouthery....

It’s time for another round of “What’s Wrong with Women?” Last month’s category was science. This month it’s punditry, sparked by a testy (well, nasty) letter from syndicated columnist and FOX-TV commentator Susan Estrich to Michael Kinsley, the courtly editorial and opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times, pointing out the lack of female talent on his op-ed pages: In nine weeks, only 20 percent of pieces were written by women. Now everybody’s jumping in: “Feminists Get Hysterical” (Heather MacDonald in City Journal) is a typical sentiment. “There ought to be more women on op-ed pages in general. Over time,...

November 4, 2004 - All the “sure signs” for a Kerry victory were there. The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. The Boston Red Sox exorcised the “Curse of the Bambino.” The Washington Redskins – longtime predictors of presidential races – lost last Sunday, which has always meant a loss for the incumbent. And to add to that trifecta, the stock market was skittish, surely a sign of an incumbent’s defeat at the polls. But … The bin Laden tape backfired, telling the American electorate that the arch-terrorist was rooting for a Kerry victory. The dozens of anti-Bush books...

Saturday October 02, 2004--The latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows President George W. Bush with 49% of the vote and Senator John Kerry with 46%. These results are based upon a survey of 3,000 Likely Voters conducted Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night. As a result, just over one-third of the interviews were conducted following Thursday night's Presidential Debate. Results from last night's sample were similar to the preceding nights. Monday's update will be the first based entirely upon post-debate interviews. In last night's sample, 6% of voters say they changed their minds following the debate. This includes 3% who...

9/26/2004 Best News and Punditry on the Web============================== Grandmother thought she would take this pause before the first of the great presidential debates in this year of our Lord, to offer up those web sites that offer the quickest, wittiest, wisest comments, punditry and unbiased presentation of the political or cultural facts as are currently occurring. We begin with the slickest, then onto those sites famous for “community blogging” onto the best Blog on the Internet as Grandmother currently envisions this new medium. The BEST-The American Spectator This site offers up only a few pundits for mental digestion. It features...

I heard some liberal pundits this week forecast that the elections scheduled for January in Iraq would surely not be held on time. They were gleeful in their dissection of President Bush's pronouncements on one day that "elections will be held" and on the next day that "elections are scheduled". To them that meant that their dire predictions of quagmire were true. There are at least two problems with their gloom and doom forecasts. First, events in Iraq won't stand still enough for there to be a quagmire. Every time they predict something won't happen on schedule it happens. Remember...

<p>WASHINGTON (Creators Syndicate, Inc.) -- In his uncompromising condemnation of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, President Bush has no more reliable and important supporter than his erstwhile political foe Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.</p> <p>John McCain, an authentic American hero who knows firsthand the pain of combat, has said: "War is awful. Nothing, not the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves, can glorify war. War is wretched beyond description and only a fool or a fraud could sentimentalize its cruel reality. Whatever is won in war, it is loss the veteran remembers."</p>

12 Realistic, Pessimistic Predictions for the first two years of the Bush AdministrationFirst posted on December 13, 2000. PRE-ELECTION UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2002 Yesterday's (9/24) posting about a documentary of what happened in the Florida Presidential election, Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election, prompted me to examine and update my "realistic, pessimistic predictions". Though the huge impact of the September 11 attacks and subsequent related events couldn't be predicted in December 2000, I think I did reasonably well with these. (And some of them were admittedly minimal-brainers.) So, herewith for perusal and comment, a complete update. (This has been my profile...