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Folks, join us on Freedom Radio and welcome to Blog Talk Radio, Mayor Lou Barletta of Hazelton, PA, now running for the US House of Representatives in PA. We need folks like Lou Barletta folks: "We need him on that wall, we want him on that wall" Drop everything Sunday night and help us make history! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freedom 8 pm est. Sunday May 18, 2008 ____________________________________________ The way to breath life into the conservative movement is to rebuild it from the bottom up, To that end visit: http;//www.loubarletta.com and donate to a man of courage. Donate if you are so lead....

Well, at least they didn't kiss. I was bracing myself for the lip lock Wednesday when John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama. Don't look at me. David "Mudcat" Saunders, Edwards's former rural adviser, came up with the idea, saying Obama should kiss Edwards on the lips "to kill this 41-point loss," referring to Hillary Clinton's landslide victory in the West Virginia primary. Instead, the two men exchanged a manly air-hug to commemorate the moment when Edwards threw Clinton under the upholstered sofa on his grandmama's front porch. As Edwards gave what amounted to a stump speech highlighting his favorite subject --...

What makes this presidential election different from all other presidential elections? And different from what we expected when the year began? First, neither party’s presumptive nominee was chosen by massive support from primary voters, as John Kerry was in 2004, George W. Bush in 2000 or Bill Clinton in 1992. That may not seem obvious in the case of John McCain, who effectively clinched the Republican nomination on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. But look at the numbers: In January, McCain won New Hampshire 37 percent to 32 percent, South Carolina 33 to 30 percent and Florida 36 to 31 percent....

President Bush made a moving speech in Israel to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of that state. The New York Sun began its editorial "Bush's Covenant" this way: As far as political reactions go, it was a weird one. President Bush gave a beautiful and moving speech in the capital of Israel to give voice to America’s solidarity with the Jewish state. He reached back to Herzl and beyond, declaring that the establishment of the State of Israel was, as the president put it, “the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David —...

Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama made his most substantive comments on foreign policy with respect to the Middle East in an interview with the New York Times yesterday. Here’s an excerpt: “The debate we’re going to be having with John McCain is how do we understand the blend of military action to diplomatic action that we are going to undertake,� he said. “I constantly reject this notion that any hint of strategies involving diplomacy are somehow soft or indicate surrender or means that you are not going to crack down on terrorism. Those are the terms of debate that...

She can't win. The pundits say it. The polls say it. The math says it. It's even the word on the street. If Huggy Bear from "Starsky and Hutch" were around, he'd say it's time to stick a fork in her. So why does she keep going? One theory is psychological, almost Aesopian. Hillary Clinton - like her husband - is a creature who follows her nature. Scorpions must sting. Ants must save food for winter. Clintons must fight. Bill Clinton illustrated Clinton grit when he confronted Newt Gingrich during the government shutdown of the mid-'90s. "Do you know who...

Agents for Sen. Hillary Clinton, trying desperately to keep alive her presidential campaign, are privately telling Democrats that she is so "tight" with a dollar that she would not continue her contest against Sen. Barack Obama if she did not have a chance to win. That was a reference to Clinton pulling $11 million out of her family's newfound personal fortune to maintain her candidacy. Saying that she would not waste money on a futile effort, her supporters imply she will still find a path to the presidential nomination. With not enough primary elections left for Clinton to close the...

John Edwards says he's not interested in becoming vice president...The former presidential candidate told the press his wishes last night in New York City. Edwards was in the city receiving an award from demos, a liberal policy research center. On Wednesday Edwards endorsed democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama. The fresh support helped add to Obama's overall delegate count. (Watch the Video)

I've long speculated that one of the reasons that Hillary Clinton is still in the race is because she wants to be running should another bombshell like the Rev. Wright scandal hit the Obama campaign. According to Hillary Clinton supporter Larry Johnson, there is another bomb out there, but it won't see the light of day until Obama is nominated: I now have it from two three sources close to senior Republicans that they have video dynamite–Michelle Obama railing against “whitey” at Jeremiah Wright’s church. Republicans may have a lousy record when it comes to the economy and the management...

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, facing a likely defeat in next Tuesday's primary election, won't travel to Kentucky before the voting, but said he hopes to have much more time to win over Kentucky voters before the November general election. He also blamed Fox News for disseminating "rumors" about him and said that that and e-mails filled with misinformation that have been "systematically" dispersed have hurt him in Kentucky. "When we're able to campaign in a place like Iowa for several months and I can visit and talk to people individually, I do very well. That's harder...

The Worst Republican Senator Quin Hillyer Published 5/15/2008 12:08:02 AM South Carolina's Lindsey Graham is a flop. He pretends to be a conservative, but sells out conservatives and insults them while doing so. He pretends to be effective at reaching across party lines, but the only thing he effectively does is help the other party. He inhabits the Senate seat of Strom Thurmond, legendary for great attention to his South Carolina constituents, but Graham spends most of his time trailing behind John McCain like a valet as McCain criss-crosses the country in pursuit of the presidency. He called Ted Kennedy...

Wouldn't it be something if Michelle Obama, not the Rev. Jeremiah Wright or John McCain, were the reason Barrack Obama looses the presidency? Instead of "change," the First Lady-in-waiting is sticking with old hurts held closely by certain black communities. They are those who relish the pain suffered by their slave forefathers and mothers. They revisit, over and over, what was; hurts, carefully protected and harbored as badges of honor. None of us on this land are responsible for what happened to their kin, but they don't care. They marinate in crippling history. Why? The reasons reek of the psychology...

During the run-up to the 2006 elections, future Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made definitive promises that if Democrats won leadership of Congress, they had a plan to lower gas prices. In November 2006, a gallon of gas cost approximately $2.20; it soon will double. In lieu of the current strategy (or lack thereof) of RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, Senator Mitch McConnell, and House Minority leader John Boehner, I propose the following: "Stop apologizing for Democratic mistakes and start campaigning on them!" --Openly challenge Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Howard Dean to a televised debate (and keep shaming and challenging...

The Popular Press is lined up outside the tuxedo rental places here in Your Nation's Capital, to get ready for what they all assume will be the Coronation of Sen. Barack Obama as the Nominee for President of the Democratic Party after the primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. The endorsement of John Edwards yesterday, one assumes, also brings his eleven delegates with him. That would put Obama, according to CNN's count, at 1,910 delegates only 115 short of the 2,025 to have a majority. Kentucky (60 delegates) and Oregon (65 delegates) will hold their primaries on Tuesday. Assuming Obama and...

Republicans are bracing for a political annihilation of epic proportions after losing a special election this week in a solidly conservative district in Mississippi — yes, Mississippi. We can call this "a harbinger." And Republicans not only deserve the flogging, they should be praying for more. We can call this "creative destruction." When Democrats claim that Republican presidential candidate John McCain would mean a third term of the Bush presidency, they're not kidding. The GOP offers no coherent policy, no leadership, no imagination, no principles and, most important, it offers no choice. The Democrat-run Congress now carries an approval rating...

So we all know that Cindy McCain is loaded. She’s an heir to the Anheuser Busch fortune and has millions upon millions. I love how the McCains & Clinton’s have 10-100X the millions that Obama has and he’s the elitists. Whatever. I want to challenge the idea that money is what defines whether one is a member of the American Elite. In doing so, I rely mainly on Christopher Lasch’s work The Revolt of the Elites. According to Lasch: The new cognitive elite is made up of what Robert Reich called “symbolic analysts” — lawyers, academics, journalists, systems analysts, brokers,...

Barack Obama's campaign hopes it will. They're putting out the word that they hope to announce on the night of May 20, after the results come in from the Kentucky and Oregon primaries, that their candidate has the 2,025 votes needed for the Democratic nomination. That would mean that the nomination would be settled before the May 31 rules committee meeting on the status of the disqualified Michigan and Florida delegations; this would deprive Clinton of a grievance but would not deprive Obama of the nomination. The June 1 primary in Puerto Rico, in which it seems possible Clinton could...

What is surely undeniable is the imperative need to defeat Hezbollah, and that America and Britain will either help bring that about -- or will help strengthen it instead through continuing to pursue their lethally misguided strategy of appeasing Syria and Iran.

Having a real distaste for all the potential candidates for president I have started a write-in campaign to elect my dog Rocky for president with his buddy Potato as his VP. I asked for their opinions on the issues and here is what they have told me: Rocky (right) with his running mate Potato On the IssuesClimate Change Rocky & Potato will demand that all their canine friends relentless chase and harass all bovine creatures until they cease all flatulence. In addition they will invest heavily in innovative technologies to create a national dog sledding network and require 50% of...

Hey sweetie, are you bitter? Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By Salena Zito Perfect Sen. John McCain bumper sticker: Hey sweetie, are you bitter?

Maybe the Obama-inspired tremor that began in Chris Matthews’ leg has traveled up to his head and done some damage. Last night on Hardball, Matthews was discussing–what else?–President Bush’s unconscionable Obama attack in the Knesset. The conversation with conservative radio host Kevin James wended round to the career of Neville Chamberlain, and Matthews began to excoriate James for being ignorant of history. Things got very heated, and James fired back, recounting recent historical examples of America’s failure to counter terrorist acts against the U.S. When James mentioned Bill Clinton’s lackadaisical response to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in...

At 5:43 into this video, Barack Obama asserts that "has never said" he'd negotiate with terrorists. The problem with this is one of two things: Barack Obama is either lying through his teeth, or he doesn't consider the Iranian regime terrorists. Either way, he's off.

In an earlier column, I raised the matter of whether, and how, Senator Barack Obama's conspicuous intelligence may act as a barrier to his being elected president. [SNIP] In recent years, Democrats have nominated presidential candidates who are far more intelligent that their Republican counterparts. Common sense might suggest that high intelligence is necessary to be president, and conclude that we should applaud such nominations. Election politics, unfortunately, usually punishes the more intelligent nominee. Start with Nixon. Hubert Humphrey had a remarkable mind and while Nixon was no slouch, Humphrey always struck those who knew both men well as way...

The Grand Old Party looks, and acts, like the Going Out Party. After losing three congressional special elections in as many months, in what were assumed to be “Republican” districts, some Republicans are finally waking up to the fact that they have squandered the Reagan legacy and consequently, are about to be relegated to the minority status wasteland they occupied for five decades after WWII. The Party of Reagan withered under the “kinder, gentler” administration of Bush(41), consequently suffering further indignity under two “era of big government is over” Clinton terms, only to be further disenfranchised by Bush(43)’s “compassionate conservatism.”...

May 15, 2008 Berkeley, California OK, Scooter's psychotic empathizing with John McCain has gotten totally out of hand. It's one thing to adopt the hairstyle or even mild mannerisms of somebody one admires, but Scooter's total metamorphosis into McCain by way of elaborate theatrical makeup, wardrobe, acting, and vocal inflections is beyond weird. Yesterday we went shopping at the mall, and while there Scooter probably signed over a hundred autographs as Senator McCain. Later at the urging of onlookers he even gave an impromptu speech from atop a table at the food court. After flashing some very realistic Vietnam...

Jerusalem - Jerusalem must be included in any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authrity, stressed Sen. Barack Obama's Middle East adviser Daniel Kurtzer. "It will be impossible to make progress on serious peace talks without putting the future of Jerusalem on the table," Kurtzer said yesterday at a conference organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute or JPPPI. Kutzer... was appointed as a primary Obama adviser on the Middle East earlier this year.

Every decade or so the people who control the way we see the world anoint some American politician the Redeemer of a Troubled Planet. In the late 1960s the media placed the halo on Robert Kennedy, the tragic dynast whose antiwar and civil rights credentials made him in life - as he remains to this day in death - a kind of devotional figure for most political journalists. Kennedy at least had charisma and intelligence. But to prove that these were by no means necessary preconditions for the honour, it was conferred a few years later on Jimmy Carter, the...

With Hillary Clinton’s 40-point win in West Virginia on Tuesday, it looks as if the former first lady’s campaign will endure at least another week. And with it will continue the protracted, pointless infighting between Sen. Barack Obama’s and Clinton’s camps, sending lots of Democratic money down the primary money pit with the general election less than six months away. In other words, it’s the Democrats’ worst nightmare, outside of military success in Iraq. Rush Limbaugh’s Operation Chaos may be a small part of Clinton’s electoral success. And it’s a small, yet sweet, consolation for Republicans and conservatives less than...

I must admit that I had just about given up on the notion that a Republican could win the White House this year. With an unpopular war in its sixth year and an economy heading into a recession, the political landscape had all the earmarks (excuse the expression) of a country that was ready to put another party in power. Additionally, with the history-making candidacies of the first woman and the first African-American with a serious chance to become the nation’s Chief Executive, it looked like curtains for the GOP. Add to that scenario the fact that conservative groups were...

Recently on a talk radio show, the guest, a Democrat, said there was little difference in policy between John McCain and the two Democrats running for President. Many of those calling in agreed. Considering McCain’s recent comments on global climate change and his position on some other issues I can understand why some might have that impression. If voters are convinced there would not be much difference in policy between a McCain and an Obama presidency, it is likely the majority will go for the young, charismatic candidate who would make history as the first black President. If they vote...

If you look a few posts below, you will find the text of President Bush’s powerful and moving speech to the Knesset today. In the course of it, he says something very general: Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this...

It had to be one of the single dumbest questions ever asked in the history of network television. Diane Sawyer was chatting up James Carville, the irascible Clinton loyalist, about the West Virginia Democrat primary. She turned to Mr. Carville and, with a glint in her eye, asked something that almost caused him to fall flat out of his cushy 'Good Morning America' chair. At least I know I certainly would have keeled over had I been asked the same thing. Referring to the much-reported exit polling in West Virginia that suggested that one out of five Clinton voters said...

Pity Party Big picture, May 2008: The Democrats aren't the ones falling apart, the Republicans are. The Democrats can see daylight ahead. For all their fractious fighting, they're finally resolving their central drama. Hillary Clinton will leave, and Barack Obama will deliver a stirring acceptance speech. Then hand-to-hand in the general, where they see their guy triumphing. You see it when you talk to them: They're busy being born. The Republicans? Busy dying. The brightest of them see no immediate light. They're frozen, not like a deer in the headlights but a deer in the darkness, his ears stiff at...

Veteran Democrat David Carlin knows what he’s going to do if Illinois Sen. Barack Obama becomes his party’s presidential nominee He’s going to vote for the presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. “Any Catholic who takes the abortion issue seriously will not vote for Obama,” said Carlin, who served as majority leader of the Rhode Island Senate in 1989-90. Pro-life leaders describe Obama — who is now the heavy favorite to defeat New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination — as the most pro-abortion presidential candidate in American history. “Based on his record he appears to...

So, Dubya goes before the Israel Knesset for their 60th Anniversary and criticizes appeasement: "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," the President said to the country's legislative body, "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is –- the false comfort of appeasement, which has...

The glib handling of criticism of his relationship with the anti-American ("God Damn America!") and anti-Israel ("a dirty word for Negroes") Reverend James Wright may have bought him a little time. But the legacy of dissimulation about his long-concealed identity is about to come crashing down around the ears of Barack Hussein Obama, courtesy of the assembled testimony of his family, friends, classmates and teachers. Obama's official campaign site has a page titled "Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." The page states, "Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was...

The political climate couldn't be much more favorable for Democrats in their efforts to take back the White House this year, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will, two national political observers said in Columbus today. President Bush is unpopular, more people consider themselves Democrats than Republicans, and polls show Democrats enjoy a clear advantage on issues Americans care about, pollster Peter D. Hart and columnist Mark Shields said. Also, the economy is near or in recession, the nation is mired in an unpopular war, and for the first time in many generations, a majority of Americans don't think the...

Ninety percent of black Democrats support Barack Obama. So that might leave an observer wondering: What the hell is up with that other 10 percent? Are they stupid? Do they hate their own race? Do they not understand the historical import of the moment? I can shed some insight on this demographic anomaly. In gatherings of black people, I'm invariably the only one for the Dragon Lady. I'll do my best to explain how those of us in the ever-shrinking minority of a minority came to our position. But, before going any further, let me fully disclose my predispositions. I...

The fact that receiving Hamas support does not appear to disturb Obama should worry us even more than the fact that terrorists see something in him that they really like. The 2008 Presidential campaign has already seen a number of outlandish, and patently false, attacks. The idea that Islamic terrorists are picking a side in selection of an American president might seem to be yet another for the list…if it didn’t have its basis in truth. A few weeks ago, Ahmed Yousef, a top political adviser for terrorist group Hamas, said in an interview on WABC radio in New York...

I just read in The New York Times about an incident in a diner somewhere in Indiana. I can just see this whole scene playing out as described: Barack Obama campaigning and walking up to a white, older man who waves him off dismissively and calls him a Muslim who doesn't love his country. The key element is the inability of this man to meet the eye of Mr. Obama. His head goes down and an arm waves out to the side for the offender to please remove himself right away. Of course, the man is in a panic of...

The endorsement of Senator Barack Obama by former Senator John Edwards is a signal, though not an absolutely decisive one, of a shift in the commitment of the Democratic Party's unpledged centre. It is partly a result of sheer momentum - Edwards said as much when he said that the voters had evidently made their choice "and so have I" - but partly also a feeling of alarm at the way in which Mrs Clinton has polarised the campaign, and gone so far as to polarise it along ethnic and racial lines. Edwards himself ran a campaign very much along...

(CNN) -- In a preview of the political onslaught Michelle Obama may face in the fall, the Tennessee Republican Party unveiled a Web video Thursday highlighting her comment that she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life." The four-minute video coincides with a visit to the state by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's wife for a Democratic Party event Thursday evening. It features several Tennesseans saying why they are proud of American while repeatedly cutting to Michelle Obama's comments. "The Tennessee Republican Party has always been proud of America. To further honor the occasion...

GOP leaders are showing signs of panic after the Republican Party lost three straight House seats in what should have been safe territory. Scandal, campaign financing barriers and a mixed message have left the party waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I just got off of another teleconference with John McCain. Here are my notes, not quotes, from the teleconference. McCain's Opening Statement I gave a speech this morning about how I would want America to look after my first term in office in 2013. I want people to see what I want to do. By 2013, I think we will have won in Iraq. There may be sporadic fighting or attacks by Jihadists, but the Iraqi military would have control of the country and American troops would be out of harm's way, even though we may still have our troops...

Every decade or so the people who control the way we see the world anoint some American politician the Redeemer of a Troubled Planet. In the late 1960s the media placed the halo on Robert Kennedy, the tragic dynast whose antiwar and civil rights credentials made him in life - as he remains to this day in death - a kind of devotional figure for most political journalists. Kennedy at least had charisma and intelligence. But to prove that these were by no means necessary preconditions for the honour, it was conferred a few years later on Jimmy Carter, the...

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused President Bush on Thursday of launching a "false political attack" with a comment about appeasing terrorists and radicals. The Illinois senator interpreted the remark as a slam against him but the White House denied that Bush's words were in any way directed at Obama, who has said as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran's leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue. In a speech to Israel's Knesset, Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as...

What about Al? There is a rumor among those close to the Obama camp that this weekend will bring a big endorsement for the Illinois Senator. We can scratch John Edwards off that list, he is yesterday's news. Probably the only thing 'bigger' than Edwards would be former Vice-President Al Gore -- who will be in Pittsburgh this Sunday (May 18) to give the commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon University. Gore, after his unsuccessful run for president in 2000, took an environmental path, rather than political, and has become a cult-like figure among the left and environmentally correct.

Former Republican congressman Robert Barr of Georgia recently announced he is running for president as a Libertarian. This is a formidable development, and it's by no means out of the question that Barr could attract enough otherwise conservative voters to defeat John McCain and put Barack Obama in the White House. Of course, Obama has his own problems with possible rivals on the left side of the political spectrum. That hardy perennial Ralph Nader has already made it clear that he intends to run, and while he may be old news, even a poor showing by Nader on Election Day...

As promised, this is it. We delivered. The future of the Republican Party is now available for your inspection, by clicking on http://www.GOPonDemand.com. This is the public "beta" version of GOP onDemand,™ the gateway to your constitutional right to guide and instruct your Republican Party. You, the loyal readers of Townhall.com are the very first to see, to critique, to interact with GOP onDemand.™ Please note, various pages are still under construction, and features still must be added. But that's because we want, and need, your input as to what you think Republicans want to see on GOP onDemand.™ If...