Free Republic

As members prepare for the 113th Congress, several have been dissatisfied with Speaker Boehner's conduct: he's been accused of booting more conservative members off of major committees, and the abject failure that is "Plan B" seems to have been the final straw for some. Breitbart News reports that there's a plan circulating some offices intended to facilitate the election of a new Speaker of the House come January. Several conservative House Republican members are contemplating a plan to unseat Speaker John Boehner from his position on January 3, Breitbart News has exclusively learned. Staffers have compiled a detailed action plan...

Newt Gingrich is working with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to develop a 6 to 9 month planning group to reinvigorate the GOP for 2014 and 2016 and beyond. Tough, major changes are required to match the Dems entrenched political machines and coalitions.

SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Lee Dorman, the bassist for "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" rockers Iron Butterfly, has died of apparent natural causes in California, a coroner said. He was 70. Dorman, who had a history of heart problems, was found dead in his car Friday in Orange County, E! Online reported.

Massachusetts voters weary from one of the nation’s costliest and most divisive U.S. Senate races are all but certain to find themselves thrown back into another tumultuous election now that President Barack Obama has nominated Sen. John Kerry for secretary of state. If confirmed by the Senate, as expected, Democrat Kerry would have to resign the seat he’s held for nearly three decades, meaning a special election that will be the state’s third Senate contest since 2010. Jockeying already is well under way. The big question is whether Republican Sen. Scott Brown will go for the seat after losing his...

Obama Uses Funeral Service to Talk About Himself Daniel Halper December 22, 2012 10:34 AM President Barack Obama used the funeral for Hawaii senator Daniel Inouye to talk about himself. In the short 1,600 word speech, Obama used the word "my" 21 times, "me" 12 times, and "I" 30 times. Obama's speech discussed how Inouye had gotten him interested in politics. "Danny was elected to the U.S. Senate when I was two years old," he said. Speaking to the audience at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Obama talked about his family and their vacations. "Now, even though my mother...

Accommodating is the preferred style of conflict resolution often used by the Obama Administration to resolve crisis on the diplomatic stage. Today’s Democrats are too willing to put the needs of terrorists before this country, allies or any other democracies. In fact the only people they see as enemies are American conservatives. Obama will surrender victory in order to maintain peace with people whose only goal is to wipe America off the face of the earth. This White House refuses to do or say anything that might upset America’s enemies; they only want to placate them. In simple terms for...

Georg (L) and Joseph Ratzinger during their first Mass processional in Traunstein, Germany in 1951. Photo courtesy of Ignatius Press. Marktl am Inn, Germany, Dec 21, 2012 / 04:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Christmas letter that Pope Benedict XVI wrote to Baby Jesus when he was seven years-old demonstrates his devotion to the Sacred Heart and his desire to be a priest. The letter is on display this Advent in the village of Marktl am Inn in Bavaria, where he was born. "Dear Baby Jesus, quickly come down to earth. You will bring joy to children. Also bring me...

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath–a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Each December I gaze into my crystal ball and predict what I believe will be the top 10 stories of the coming year. I almost never get these right but they’re fun to speculate about nevertheless. A year from now we’ll take a look back and see how well I did, unless I didn’t do well at all. In that case we will pretend this never happened for the sake of preserving my fragile self-esteem. 10. The highest grossing movie of 2013 will be Iron Man 3. The year is shaping up to be one of the biggest in cinema...

Face it, there are some very prominent Jews running (way, way) out front for gun control.

The Newtown killings ought to occasion a little modesty and circumspection. ‘Lullay, Thou little tiny Child, by by, lully, lullay . . . ” The 16th-century Coventry Carol, a mother’s lament for her lost son, is the only song of the season about the other children of Christmas — the first-born of Bethlehem, slaughtered on Herod’s orders after the Magi brought him the not-so-glad tidings that an infant of that city would grow up to be King of the Jews. As Matthew tells it, even in a story of miraculous birth, in the midst of life is death. The Massacre...

What an ignorant, dishonest and pathetic response to Sandy Hook today from the National Rifle Association. As a media critic, I will limit myself to the disingenuous attack on the media from Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the organization. Of course, it's a shameless attempt to avoid accepting any responsibility by his organization. But in the interest of a sane discussion about media violence -- rather than the demagogued, crazy-right-wing-paranoid speechifying of LaPierre -- some social science research, facts and context need to be presented.

The Vatican is actively taking part in the Middle East conflict - on the judenrein side. They've been there before. During the past several weeks, the Vatican has worked hard to achieve the dwarfing of Israel into the indefensible 1947 ceasefire lines. Pope Benedict just met in Rome with the Palestinian Authority head, Mahmoud Abbas, hailing the recent United Nations’ resolution on Palestinian non-member statehood. “It is hoped that (the resolution) will encourage the commitment of the international community to finding a fair and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, a Vatican statement said. Abbas also met with the Cardinal...

Statements by Obama and NY governor Cuomo and others have made gun owners very worried. If we get an assault weapons ban via congressional action or presidential order, who will stop the momentum from turning to outright confiscation especially in Leftist jurisdictions. I don't know if any states currently have state laws that address this specific issue, but we need to make sure that our gun and property rights are secure from the gun grabbers at all levels.

“Closed until next year” It’s a good thing Big Guy doesn’t have Jake Tapper to kick around any more.(snip)As I noted the other day, just because Big Guy said “I don’t think I’ve been on vacation,” doesn’t mean he hasn’t been. (snip)the balance of this post is dedicated to your recipes for Sweets and Treats.This is my traditional Christmas bread because I’m always so busy this time of year I forget to eat the bananas and they all turn black and mushy. As it turns out, that is the key to: Best Ever Banana Bread 2 ripe bananas mashed (by...

NRA push for armed officers backed by state superintendent By Wayne Washington The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The National Rifle Association’s call Friday for armed officers in every school drew quick support from Georgia School Superintendent John Barge, who said it would deter the type of mass killings carried out last week at a Connecticut elementary school. But Barge said financially struggling school districts in Georgia would need help from the state to pay for armed officers. “Having a school resource officer would certainly be ideal,” Matt Cardoza, director of communications at the Georgia Department of Education, said Friday after a conversation...

NBC Fawns Over 'White House Christmas,' But Ignores Cost of Obama Vacation to Taxpayers By Matt Hadro | December 19, 2012 | 16:23 Missing from NBC's rosy Wednesday interview of Michelle Obama is her family vacation's cost to taxpayers. Reports are that the taxpayer bill for the Hawaii vacation will top $4 million. "Come Christmas the First Family, Bo included, will head some 5,000 miles away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Today contributing correspondent Jenna Bush Hager said during NBC's "A White House Christmas" segment. "After an exciting but exhausting election season, the Obamas are happy to take this time to...

Republicans in the House have demonstrated no imagination on a daily basis. And general punditry seems to be lacking also thereof. One pundit I heard yesterday, who I have always rather mistrusted, is a self confessed former liberal who backed McCain in 08 and Romney in 12, in the primaries! He now sides with Boehner, suggesting that we were all fools to oppose the Pelosi proposal co-opted by Boehner and known fondly by him as “Plan B” Rubbish. Our pundit’s woe is that now B.O. will let us go over the fiscal cliff (a bipartisan liberal act of cowardice) and...

Video at this LINK

Since 2000, how much has your average hourly wage gone up? If you are in the upper crust, the answer may be staggering. If not, perhaps the following chart more closely resembles your experience. Average Hourly Earnings 2000-2012 Just the Facts Ma'am The average hourly earnings was $13.75 on January 1, 2000. The average hourly earnings is currently $19.84.Since 2000, average hourly earnings are up 44.29% Bear in mind, those are averages. Don't be surprised if you are much worse off because of distributional skew (huge wage increases at the high end pull the average up). Moreover, the above chart...