Free Republic

If you're interested in figuring out where the Republicans went wrong and why they no longer have any connection to anything that could properly be called conservatism, I recommend this fine essay by Paul Gottfried in the latest issue of The American Conservative. Here is how Gottfried debunks the notion that John McCain is in any way the philosophical successor to the man who preceded him in representing Arizona in the U.S. Senate: "McCain may hold the Senate seat that was once Goldwater's, but he is in no way his philosophical successor. The 2008 election was a contest between two...

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Two weeks after the election, Sarah Palin is still the media's, and some Republican's object of scorn. She must be really good to be the target of those who sit at the gates of hell, to be blunt. Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lukovich draws a picture of a Thanksgiving turkey handing a hatchet to a pilgrim while Sarah Palin is "blah, blah, blahhing" on a TV screen. Out of sheer boredom from watcing...

What if Electoral College Elects Sarah Palin to Presidency? Satire By John LillpopWhat if Barack Obama is declared a non-citizen and ineligible to serve as U.S. President?That is most improbable, right? Perhaps, but not impossible.In fact, a challenge to Obama's citizenship is scheduled to be the subject of a "conference" at the U.S. Supreme Court on December 5, 2008. A conference is a meeting of the Supreme Court Justices where cases are reviewed and the court decides which ones to accept for formal review. *The formal election of Barack Obama by the Electoral College is scheduled for December 15,...

What a powerful letter -- which I am pleased to share with Salon readers. Yes, let us not forget the tragic series of dubious political judgments that led the U.S. to lurch into Southeast Asia after the French had prudently packed up and left. The debacle of the Vietnam War still haunts American politics and has produced deep partisan fissures that have never healed. However, I would appeal to you and to all Americans to acknowledge that the preservation of our liberties ultimately depends on the enormous dedication and self-sacrifice of our military men and women. I am very concerned...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are most interested in seeing Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee run for the party's presidential nomination in 2012. Those three received the highest scores among the 10 possible candidates evaluated in a recent Gallup Panel survey.

The Palin/turkey incident immediately reminded me of the Obama/chicken incident in Dreams From My Father: --------------------------------------------------- “Don’t you think he’s a little young?” Lolo shrugged and looked down at me. “The boy should know where his dinner is coming from. What do you think, Barry?” I looked at my mother, then turned back to face the man holding the chicken. Lolo nodded again, and I watched the man set the bird down, pinning it gently under one knee and pulling its neck out across a narrow gutter. For a moment the bird struggled, beating its wings hard against the ground,...

We have gone through the first round of internal recriminations with the recent excoriation of Governor Palin by those “unnamed” McCain staffers. But, as we all know, Gov. Palin was the subject of heated debate even among Republicans long before the election. One common complaint was that she was the "worst" VP candidate pick "ever." But, was she really? A look at recent history can only serve to deflate that ridiculous claim. There have been far worse picks than Gov. Palin and only the extremely emotional state of mind that this past election ginned up could obscure the historical record....

The other day, as I was watching one of the news channels I had to quickly check my calendar because I had the feeling that I may have only dreamt that the election was over. The reason for my confusion was that several commentators were still taking shots at Sarah Palin. Here it was, weeks after the woman had left the campaign trail, and the abuse was as strident as it had been throughout her months-long quest for the second spot on the ticket. The man who ran for the first spot on the ticket had shed his bulletproof armor;...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Oprah wants her, and so do Letterman and Leno. Fresh from her political defeat, Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate that would be astonishing for most Hollywood stars, let alone a first-term governor. The failed Republican vice presidential candidate crunched state budget numbers this week in her 17th-floor office as tumbling oil prices hit Alaska's revenues. Meanwhile, her staff fielded television requests seeking the 44-year-old Palin for late-night banter and Sunday morning Washington policy. Agents, including those from the William Morris...

Her VP nomination acceptance speech was amazing, energizing and excited millions. She was sharp, wholesome, down to earth, boldly conservative and beautiful. Then, the liberal media, blatantly committed to getting Obama elected, set out to destroy her. “Sarah Palin is stupid” was their mantra. Every late night talk show host, biased liberal TV interviewer, biased liberal newspaper reporter and democrat talking head united to create the paradigm, “Palin is an idiot”. Suddenly, every word out of Sarah's mouth was under severe scrutiny. Who could survive such a tsunami of attacks on their intellect? Meanwhile, Obama saying the US has 57...

Governor Palin is in demand. Every newshound, every TV talking head, every newsertainer in the country is after her. She is being pursued for TV shows, book deals, movie roles, hounded by photographers and every hanger on in both Hollywood and the newsertainment industry. But the Associated Press wants to be sure you understand one thing: she is a FAILURE! That's right, in discussing Palin's current celebrity, the main concern AP has is to make sure you know she is a big ol' loser. The AP is so intent to remind you she lost that it has to tell you...

1. She reminds me of my mother. 2. She kind of reminds me of my mother-in-law. 3. She reminds me of myself, actually. 4. She’s ballsy. She stood up to all the mean girls who trashed her and the perverts who made pornography of her and the media who mocked her. She did it with grace, complete sentences (unlike our current resident moron) and with HUMOR and a big wide smile on her face and 4 kids in tow. 5. She refuses to stay in the box society made for her. In fact, she pretends there is no box. 6....

I'm one of those who refuses to proclaim Sarah Palin as "the next Reagan." To do so would be to open myself to all sorts of attacks from Reagan admirers and detractors alike, but that's not why I refrain from equating the two. I truly believe that Ronald Reagan was a rare and unique leader, a giant of the conservative movement who pushed it ahead as much as did Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley. I do admire and support Gov. Palin, and I think she has her own brand of uniqueness.

As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin settles back into her job as the state's chief executive, a new ethics complaint filed Tuesday after her interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren says Palin already is improperly mixing her official duties and broader political ambitions. By Kyle Hopkins Anchorage Daily News ANCHORAGE — She's a national political figure and one of the world's most famous people. She's also governor of Alaska. As Sarah Palin settles back into her job as the state's chief executive, a new ethics complaint filed Tuesday says she's already improperly mixing her official duties and broader political ambitions....

He’s not saying it critically, mind you. Since when has Huck ever been critical of a rival, overtly or otherwise? Huckabee had some interesting observations about Sarah Palin, a potential 2012 opponent, suggesting that she didn’t earn her spurs and was more appealing to the base of the party because she hadn’t been scrutinized in the primary. “What John McCain did for her was to give her the capacity to sort of leapfrog over the process and get right to the center stage,” he said of the GOP’s vice presidential nominee. Unlike those, he added, who had competed in the...

It looks like John McCain has won Missouri — the last state not marked in either red or blue on the electoral map. The Missouri secretary of state’s office said Tuesday night the Arizona Republican led President-elect Barack Obama by 4,355 votes out of 2,923,496 cast. Assuming the state certifies the count, it will place the overall electoral vote at 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain. The office said 3,159 provisional ballots remained to be added to those totals, but even if Obama won them all, McCain had a big enough margin to win the state’s 11 electoral votes....

At the recent Republican Governors Conference in Florida, one superstar (Sarah Palin of Alaska) was center stage, while another (Arnold Schwarzenkennedy of Caleefornia) was conspicuous by his absence. Fresh off her rollercoaster ride as the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, Governor Palin gave a speech that was simultaneously humorous and serious, confident yet self-deprecating. Unshackled from the nitwits who ran the disorganized John McCain for President Campaign, she was relaxed and back in her element. She spoke of the states as a proving ground for the future leadership of the nation, and of the governors as the alternative to Washington's...

They’re asking whether various candidates should run, not who the nominee should be, but it’s a fair proxy for enthusiasm. 67 percent say yes to the ‘Cuda, 62 to Romney, 61 to Huck. No one else cracks 50. Among conservative Republicans, it’s Palin 73, Huck 65, Mitt 64; among moderates and liberals, Mitt 59, Palin 48, Huck 46. Based on those numbers, it’s actually Romney who’s best positioned to unite the party. The more I think about it, the more skeptical I am that all three will run. Even I’m not pessimistic enough to believe the recession will last until...

CNN, the most trusted name in - doodling? In a showcase piece of just how far the network has sunk journalistically speaking, they have produced a segment that could only be described as childishly one-sided. The title of the piece - Palin Fantasies Revealed in Doodles. The reality is that the analysis of these doodles reveals more about CNN's fantasies than anything else. It is a piece so laden with PDS overtones, so bereft of integrity, that one has to wonder how it can possibly be offered up by CNN as news.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Oprah wants her, and so do Letterman and Leno. Fresh from her political defeat, Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate that would be astonishing for most Hollywood stars, let alone a first-term governor.