Free Republic

Friday in Washington, the remaining House Republicans gather to vote for minority leader and minority whip. If they want to position themselves in the near future to change those modifiers from "minority" to "majority", they would best serve their party by voting for reform candidates untainted by associations with Hastert-era leadership. Republicans need to elect Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, their minority leader. Head of the Republican Study Committee, Pence is a principled, well respected conservative who.....

Congratulations to The Weak-ly Standard. The "conservative" magazine did a wonderful job promoting Democrat senatorial candidates Jim Webb, Harold Ford Jr., and Jon Tester in it's last two issues immediately preceding Tuesday's election. The Standard wrote a long tribute to Webb, calling him a "blood and soil conservative". Despite Harold Ford Jr.'s very low ACU lifetime congressional voting record of 19, the Standard tried to portray him as being similar to his conservative opponent Bob Corker on the issues. Apparently, the magazine was enamored of the notion of having little Harold in the U.S. Senate. But, most outrageously, the last...

The sharks-or are they Swift Boats?-are circling. Republicans are feverishly seizing on Sen. John Kerry's remark about President Bush's Iraq policies and trying to distort it into a slap against U.S. troops in order to sway voters in next week's elections. The Massachusetts Democrat apologized for his statement yesterday, but he needn't have, because he said nothing to offend soldiers or veterans.

Even as his poll numbers were beginning to mount last month, allowing him to catch and surpass Republican Bob Corker and to cast his net wide for Democrats of all stripes, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. still reserved the right to make an exception.

I think it is time to close the universities, and perhaps prosecute the professoriat under the RICO act as a corrupt and racketeering-influenced organization. Universities these days have the moral character of electronic churches, and as little educational value. They are an embarrassment to civilization.

Indy star Danica Patrick has hinted lately that she might be willing to give NASCAR a try. Although I believe the hints are nothing more than her gaining a little leverage as her contract with Letterman/Rahal expires at season's end, I'm still going to offer her a little advice. Stay where you are, Danica. The Indy Racing League needs you.

One hears often now that boys flounder in school, drop out, generally perform less well academically than girls, and don't go to college. A certain amount of this commentary comes from women who seem quietly to enjoy the spectacle.

Today's Nashville Tennessean reports that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be hosting a fundraiser for Harold Ford Jr. at her Washington residence on June 15. Harold may pick up a wad of cash from the event, but the Republicans will no doubt have the fundraiser staked out to get pictures of Harold the undertaker cozying up to Log Legs and all of her merry minions.

Scientists from Cornell University, working under a grant from Chevron Corp., have discovered a massive, 10,000 square mile area of oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. Extraction can begin within two years.

The NCAA, which can't seem to police illegal recruiting activities in college sports programs, or require that athletes actually are real college students, continues to flex its flabby muscles over what mascots are deemed to be permissable at athletic events. The 17 member "Executive Committee" has banned the Indian mascots at the University of North Dakota and the University of Illinois. Wire services issue stories on this matter, but they neglect to name the members of this exalted committee. The chairman is the president of the University of Hartford. Other members include the presidents of Belmont University, Alcorn State, Cal....

There's no disputing NASCAR's phenomenal growth in recent years. The sport sprouted from it's Southeastern roots and opened tracks in Kansas City, Chicago, and California. Fortune 500 companies lined up to sponsor cars and drivers. Networks paid $4.5 billion for a TV contract. Officials say the fan base is 75 million. But, in its race to claim a place beside other professional sports in a world of glitz and glitter, NASCAR is jeopardizing the grass roots fan base that helped build it.

Howard Fineman, one of Newsweek Magazine's cavalcade of liberal journalists, was praising Harold Ford Jr. on the Don Imus program this morning on MSNBC. Fineman was almost giddy in describing how Ford, who has, by far, the most liberal voting record in the Tennessee congressional delegation, is wisely staking out some positions to the right of George Bush on national security issues. Fineman thinks that Ford can use this tactic to fool enough Tennesseans into electing him to fill the seat which Bill Frist is vacating in the U.S. Senate. Fineman proclaimed that Harold Ford Jr. "has a real shot"....

Late Oscar contender has Hollywood all aglow.

Legendary Ole Miss football coach Johnny Vaught died Friday night in Oxford, Mississippi. He was 96 years old. During his tenure as head football coach at Ole Miss, his teams won six SEC championships, and three national championships.

Within an hour of the death of William Rehnquist last night, Democrat hack Susan Estrich was wistfully telling Fox News that President Bush would need to appoint a "consensus" candidate, like Alberto Gonzales, to replace the deceased justice. According to Mz. Estrich, George W. Bush has lost his stature with the American people and the Congress because of his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Therefore, Mz. Estrich theorizes that Bush cannot fill this vacancy with a true conservative, because he doesn't have the political clout to do so. Look for Estrich's comments to become the talking points for...

Congratulations to Fox News. Virtually all of their correspondents covering Hurricane Katrina are correctly pronouncing the name of the city of Biloxi. Meanwhile, MSNBC and CNN reporters are mostly butchering the correct pronunciation. How can reporters be elevated to national newscasts, and still not know something so elementary ? For the record, it's BIL-LUCKS-EE, not "Bil-locks-ee". Good grief, hearing many of these reporters mispronounce the city's name is like chalk squealing on a blackboard.

The infamous NCAA Executive Committee is telling member schools what, in their exalted estimation, constitutes an acceptable nickname or mascot. Currently, Indian names are deemed unacceptable. But, few know who these nameless, faceless bureaucrats are. Therefore, from the NCAA website, the 19 names of the NCAA Executive Committee are published here: AD Ronald Wellman, Wake Forest; Pres. Wayne Clough, Ga. Tech; Pres. John Welty, Cal. St. Fresno; Pres. Martin Jischke, Purdue; Pres. Michael Adams, U. of Georgia; Pres. Peter Likins, U. of Arizona; Pres. Phillip Austin, U. of Connecticut; Pres. Shirley Raines, U. of Memphis; Pres. Sidney McPhee, MTSU; Pres....

Dick Morris, former chief political strategist for Bill Clinton, says President George W. Bush must count on Justice William Rehnquist to quickly retire from The U.S. Supreme Court. Morris thinks Bush will have to appoint an "extreme right-winger" to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, and thus appease his base. However, if Rehnquist retires, Morris believes that Bush must then appoint a "moderate" to "balance out" the Court. Otherwise, Morris believes, angry voters will elect Hillary Rodham Clinton as the next President of the United States in 2008. In the first place, why is it that Dick Morris, Teddy Kennedy, Joe Biden,...

William Kristol, who correctly predicted that O'Connor would retire before Rehnquist, now has a dire prediction. Kristol claims that Rehnquist will retire this week, and that Bush operatives are already clearing the way to nominate Alberto Gonzales for new Chief Justice. Kristol made the comments on Fox News Sunday, as part of the four member discussion panel. According to this train of thought, according to Kristol, the White House believes that it can avoid Congressional conflict by appointing a moderate like Gonzales, and then balance it by naming a true conservative to replace O'Connor. This would effectively leave the current...

MoveOn.org is congratulating it's membership for garnering over 40,000 signatures on a petition to save Congressional funding of PBS. According to the "move on" website, their members played a pivotal role in "saving Big Bird and Mr. Rogers." Somehow, I suspect that the "moveon" group is much more excited about the fact that taxpayers will continue to fund Frontline, Bill Moyers, Ken Burns, and Mark Shields, just to name a few.