Free Republic

Sports on MSNBC? News Outlet Will Launch Streaming-Video Hub To Test New Shows, Hosts MSNBC is getting ready to debut a new show about sports. And one focused on books. And another that will examine celebrity and popular culture. In all, the NBCUniversal-owned cable-news network has 14 new programs ready to roll. You won’t see any of them on MSNBC. At least, not yet.

I get the power of hype (and demographic changes broadly) but why is it that so many people seem to be cedeing to the "fact" that Wendy Davis' campaign is somehow changing the face of Texas? I mean right now RCP averages have her down by 14.2% which is including the Lyceum poll which has been discredited by other pollsters. It also does not show the fact that the more recent polls have her falling even further behind (one pull currently has her 20% behind Abbott). But let's be conservative and say she is currently 15% behind Abbott. I've already...

President Obama’s trusted senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, was a key player in the effort to cover-up that Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress about the Fast and Furious scandal, according to public records obtained by Judicial Watch. The information is part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) “Vaughn index” detailing records about the gun-running operation known as Fast and Furious. JW had to sue the agency for the records after the Obama administration failed to provide them under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A federal court ordered the DOJ to provide the records over the agency’s objections. Yesterday...

Do you think Wendy Davis's wheelchair ad crossed the line?

The Justice Department is claiming, in a little-noticed court filing, that a federal agent had the right to impersonate a young woman online by creating a Facebook page in her name without her knowledge. Government lawyers also are defending the agent’s right to scour the woman’s seized cellphone and to post photographs — including racy pictures of her and even one of her young son and niece — to the phony social media account, which the agent was using to communicate with suspected criminals. The woman, Sondra Arquiett, who then went by the name Sondra Prince, first learned her identity...

Memo: Administration bungled Obamacare long before GOP had power to obstruct BY BYRON YORK | NOVEMBER 3, 2013 AT 8:52 AM An emerging theme from Democrats struggling to explain the Obamacare fiasco is that stubborn Republican opposition has hobbled the administration's efforts to implement President Obama's complex national health care scheme. If you want the particulars, just glance at "The Obamacare sabotage campaign" by Politico's Todd Purdum. But a memo revealed in a new Washington Post examination of the rollout shows the administration was already on a disastrous path in May 2010, just two months after Obamacare was signed into...

<p>May I ask this question? Why is it that Americans don't have the freedom to choose their own health insurance? I just don't get it. Why must the liberal nanny state make decisions for us? We can make them ourselves, thank you very much. It's like choosing a car, buying a home or investing in a stock. We can handle it.</p>

You probably figure that like most prominent artists and entertainment celebrities, U2 frontman Bono would be a typical left-liberal. But you’d be wrong. The Values & Capitalism blog of the American Enterprise Institute observes that “For a rock star whose travels to developing nations and advocacy of foreign aid are well known, this focus on commerce has surprised many observers—and apparently the man himself.” In a recent speech at Georgetown University’s Global Social Enterprise Event, Bono admitted that even he himself finds it hard to accept that he has become a rock star who preaches capitalism. “Wow; sometimes I hear...

Hey Something really cool happened last week, and I had to share with you. You probably know that one of our top priorities this year is registering as many new voters as possible. This past Thursday, supporters down in Florida really stepped up, registering over 10,000 voters. In a single day. I'm not sure if that's a record, but it's definitely amazing. Florida is just one example -- and it wouldn't have been possible without folks from neighboring states pitching in to help. Every day, supporters are getting involved in this campaign -- whether it's registering voters, making calls, knocking...

So it's still early but any thoughts- as objective as you can be on it- about who will win the presidential election and what the house and senate breakdowns would be? For president, what do you think the Electoral vote will be and why?

The foreign-policy results of the new Bloomberg National Poll haven't gotten much attention yet, but the survey contains some bad news for the Obama campaign. According to the poll, Mitt Romney has a 48-42 advantage over Barack Obama on the question of which candidate would be tougher on terrorism. Romney, in other words, has encroached on one of Obama's signature strengths. What makes this result so surprising is that the president has consistently trounced Romney when it comes to counterterrorism. A Fox News poll earlier this month found that 49 percent of respondents trusted Obama to do a better job...

On August 6, 2011, 30 US service members were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were being transported in crashed in Wardak province, Afghanistan. It was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs were killed in the crash. Yesterday, Karen and Billy Vaughn, parents of Aaron Carson Vaughn, spoke at the Defending the Defenders forum sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots outside the RNC Convention in Tampa. Karen brought a copy of the form letter they were sent following their son’s death. It’s a form letter.

A University of Colorado analysis of state-by-state factors leading to the Electoral College selection of every U.S. president since 1980 forecasts that the 2012 winner will be Mitt Romney. The key is the economy, say political science professors Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder and Michael Berry of CU Denver. Their prediction model stresses economic data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including both state and national unemployment figures as well as changes in real per capita income, among other factors. “Based on our forecasting model, it becomes clear that the president is in electoral trouble,” said Bickers, also...

Anyone else wondering if maybe this could be a cover for the pick of Rubio? I've noticed that so far Rob Portman and Tim Pawlenty have announced that they received calls from Romney saying they wouldn't be his runningmate but declined to say who will. Thus far I haven't (correct me if I missed it) heard that Rubio has not heard it. It also seems strange that this news would leak this early and the time picked for the event tomorrow also seems odd. Does anyone else think that maybe the rumors about Ryan is just a cover for the...

I am 26 and recently graduated from school. For the past almost 2 years I have been running a 401k with the tiny percentage of money I can afford to put into it with the full expectation that Social Security won't be around when I'm eligible for it, regardless of the fact I've had to pay into it. I find it really scary how many people I know around my age that aren't saving at all. At first my work only offered a regular 401 so I put in slightly above the % for employer matching. Then they offerred a...

So I recently graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in 2 New England states. I went to a public high school because it was all that my family could afford. Luckily my school was one of those rare public schools that offered exemplary education, often even better than the private schools in the area. During high school non-stop up until now I have worked at jobs, usually full time, in addition to school. Still broke, I went to my state's best public university. It was all that I could afford. I graduated summa and near the top...

Anyone know of any good books of this type that they could recommend? I am looking for something intellectual (e.g., anything written by a Professor, James Fennimore Cooper, Federalist Papers, Tocqueville, etc.) not catered to more mainstream audiences (e.g., Beck, Hannity, Coulter, etc.) and theoretical mostly, either fiction or non-fiction... I have a few on my list that I have read or will read but am just looking for some more ideas Thanks!

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 26% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-six percent (36%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10 (see trends). The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the...

"Congressional reapportionment after the 2010 census has already taken six electoral votes from states Mr. Obama carried. But the breadth of his 2008 victory gives Democrats some encouragement. Even if the president cannot repeat his breakthroughs in Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, he could win a 273-vote electoral majority by holding all of the other states he carried. The White House counts on Republican overreaching to help do that, despite the struggling economy. By highlighting partisan differences on immigration, Democratic strategists see the possibility of expanding Mr. Obama’s 67 percent showing among Hispanics, which helped deliver Colorado, Nevada...

The United States is treating Osama bin Laden's body in "accordance with Islamic practice," a White House official says. President Obama announced Sunday night that American forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan and that they took his body afterward. He said no Americans were harmed in the fight. Asked how bin Laden's body will be treated, a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call that "we are ensuring that is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition." The official, who refused to be identified, said the matter is "something that we take very seriously, and so, therefore,...