Free Republic

Jeb Bush began a talk the other day by addressing the issue of his brother George, noted architect of the Iraq war, and he did not shrink from the challenge. "I can't deny the fact that I love my family," announced Jeb. So if you suspected that the Bush Thanksgivings in Kennebunkport resemble "August: Osage County" -- with lots of screaming, sobbing and clawing -- you probably feel pretty silly right now. On a more pertinent question -- whether the war was a wise idea -- the answer is not so clear. The former governor of Florida first said that,...

The 2016 presidential election is attracting an unusually large number of hopefuls. The Republicans will probably field more than a dozen candidates and the Democrats, as many as five. Presently, very few of these supposed contenders have a real chance of becoming president. Republicans Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Ted Cruz are long shots. On the Democratic side, that term applies to everyone but Hillary Rodham Clinton.. ~snip~ If you tell them in private, "You do not have a chance to be president," they will point to underdogs who won, such as Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan, or front-runners who...

Every Republican likes to think he or she is the next Ronald Reagan. Some who say this do so for lack of their own ideas and agenda. Reagan was a great leader and President. But too often people make him into something he wasn’t in order to serve their own political purposes.

Lots of people in the Republican party are fed up with Sen. Ted Cruz, but Sen. Rand Paul is the guy who is doing something about it. On Monday, the conservative news website, Breitbart News, published an op-ed by Paul, where the senator from Kentucky took Cruz to task -- without ever actually naming the guy who may be beloved by the Tea Party conservatives, but has earned some pretty impressive dislike from the elected members of his own party -- for his hijinks that Paul said have encouraged divisions within the party: "I don't claim to be the next...

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul will host a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus next week to discuss criminal justice reform. The libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky has long been an outspoken advocate for changing how the American criminal system prosecutes and sentences. Now he’s teaming up with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and other black lawmakers, to craft a strategy for advancing legislation as law enforcement issues have taken center stage following the death of several unarmed black men at the hands of police. “Not only is Senator Paul the [S]enate co-sponsor of the Justice Safety Valve Act, which...

<p>Interesting, not because it’s a surprise that Ron Paul’s son feels this way — remember this? — but because this is a subject that every Republican in the field, Rand included, would probably prefer to avoid during the primaries.</p> <p>Or am I wrong about that? Could this be a smart play for Paul, especially given how it’ll make Jeb Bush squirm?</p>

Republican Sen. Rand Paul is standing by his statement that most vaccinations should be "voluntary," telling CNBC that a parent's choice not to vaccinate a child is "an issue of freedom." In an interview with the network Monday, Paul said that vaccines are "a good thing" but that parents "should have some input" into whether or not their children must get them. And he gave credence to the idea - disputed by the majority of the scientific community - that vaccination can lead to mental disabilities. "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound...

If Ron Paul weren’t Ron Paul, I’d assume this denunciation was just a stunt orchestrated by him and Rand to put some foreign-policy distance between them before the primaries. Are you a mainstream conservative worried that President Rand would be too much like Ron in office? Well, here you go. Let your conscience be eased. The nation’s most famous isolationist thinks his boy’s a bit of a warmonger. But c’mon. With the possible exception of his vote for the Afghanistan AUMF in 2001, has Ron Paul ever endorsed a position that he didn’t sincerely hold? Of course he thinks the...

AUSTIN - Well, this could make for an awkward conversation at Thanksgiving dinner. Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Saturday dismissed as a "joke" the demand by U.S. senators of his party that they must approve a potential agreement over the Middle East country's nuclear capabilities. "I strongly disagree with the motivation of that statement made by so many members of Congress, especially in the Senate," Paul said at a conference on liberty at the University of Texas at Austin, presumably referring to an open letter senators sent to Iranian officials describing any deal not approved by them as...

Sen. Rand Paul’s campaign for the presidency is not more than a few days old and already his mercurial father, former Rep. Ron Paul, himself a former presidential candidate, is starting to make trouble for his son. According to a Saturday story in the Houston Chronicle, the elder Paul called the famous letter that 47 Republican senators, including the younger Paul, sent to the Iranian mullahs “a joke.” The letter informed the Iranian leadership that any agreement that they reached with President Obama concerning Iran’s nuclear bomb program would not outlast the Obama presidency lacking congressional ratification.

AUSTIN ...Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on Saturday dismissed as a "joke" the demand by U.S. senators of his party that they must approve a potential agreement over the Middle East country's nuclear capabilities. "I strongly disagree with the motivation of that statement made by so many members of Congress, especially in the Senate," Paul said at a conference on liberty at the University of Texas at Austin, presumably referring to an open letter senators sent to Iranian officials describing any deal not approved by them as informal..... "They're out to stop peace," he said. "They're terrified that peace...

“The difference is purely in implementation. If you had a philosophical discussion on what the world should look like, there would be no difference.”(AUDIO-AT-LINK) Rand Paul’s brother says that when it comes to ideology, there’s “no difference” between his brother, the Kentucky senator and Republican presidential candidate, and his father, the former congressman and three-time presidential candidate. Ronnie Paul, the eldest son of the former congressman and sometimes-surrogate for his brother, was speaking with libertarian podcaster Israel Anderson. He said that both his brother and father held the same beliefs, there’s just a difference in the implementation of how to...

Republican Sen. Rand Paul split with senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to vote for a healthcare bill Tuesday night that will add about half a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next several decades.Paul sided with the overwhelming majority of senators and representatives who voted for the bill, in a decision almost certain to come up in the primary race, where he is currently joined by Cruz and Rubio.The “doc-fix” bill solves a recurring problem in the way Medicare payments are made to doctors, extends a children’s health insurance program, and requires higher-income seniors to pay higher...

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Nearly a week since Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), igniting a nationwide debate about whether the controversial law invites discrimination based on sexual orientation, most potential Republican presidential candidates have taken the opportunity to bolster their conservative credentials. "Governor Pence has done the right thing," said former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Monday. “I want to commend Governor Mike Pence for his support of religious freedom, especially in the face of fierce opposition,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz said in a written statement. “Governor Pence is holding the line to protect religious liberty in the...

U.S. Senator Rand Paul is running for president … in fact, he announces his candidacy next week in Louisville, Kentucky. From there he travels to early voting Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina – including a big fundraiser in the Palmetto State the day after he announces. As we write this, money is being collected. Speeches are being vetted. He’s 100 percent in … and not only that, Paul is one of the few candidates in the race with (we believe) a path to victory. And one of the few candidates (we believe) to be worthy of real consideration. Is...

1. Rand Paul is strong among libertarian Republicans and anti-war isolationists on foreign policy. 2. Ted Cruz is strong among pro-life evangelicals and those in favor of a hawkish interventionist foreign policy. He is also favored by those who see the elimination of Obama Care as a priority. 3. Scott Walker, as a governor, is favored by those who want someone with executive experience. He stood up against public sector unions, just like Reagan stood up against the air traffic controllers. The unions forced a recall election against Governor Walker but lost. Scott Walker is also favored among supporters of...

The sweeping re-election of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie proves moderates are an integral part of the Republican Party, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says. “There’s room in the Republican Party for moderates, like Chris Christie. They seem to be the only ones that are winning in the Northeast,” Paul told “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV. “The other thing that might happen in the Northeast if we had a little more libertarian-leaning Republicans, they would have a chance in the Northeast. But there’s room for moderates, like Chris Christie, and he’s got a place in the party.” …

Russian secret services may have executed the troops suspected of shooting down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, say sources involved in the investigation of the crash over eastern Ukraine. The Dutch-led probe is leaning towards a conclusion that a BUK missile fired from rebel-held territory downed the Boeing 777, killing all 298 on board. And it is highly likely the aircraft was shot out of the sky by Russian military personnel, according to a report by the Netherlands' state broadcaster NOS, citing anonymous sources in the police and the group of investigators working on the probe into the plane's loss.

Former Republican presidential candidate and congressman Ron Paul says secession is happening and it’s “good news.” Paul later predicted the states would stop listening to federal laws. “I would like to start off by talking about the subject and the subject is secession and, uh, nullification, the breaking up of government, and the good news is it’s gonna happen. It’s happening,” Paul, the father of potential Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, told a gathering at the libertarian Mises Institute in late January. The event Paul was speaking at was titled “Breaking Away: The Case for Secession.” Paul said secession would...