Free Republic

October 25, 2011 (Unmaskingchoice.ca) - Earlier this week, noted conservative commentator David Frum, a former speechwriter of President George W. Bush, published a column on CNN’s website musing on the question “What if abortion became a non-issue?” While Frum has, in former days, been an impressive advocate for socially conservative values, ever since the 2008 election he has advocated for a desertion of social conservatism in order to “win” more elections based on fiscal issues. Besides the inherently flawed logic behind this position—it is impossible to advocate for smaller government while simultaneously deserting the protection of the family unit that...

David Frum is a writer who, in 1997, engaged in a spirited online debate with homosexual writer Andrew Sullivan over the topic of homosexual "marriage." In over 5,500 words of text, Frum was articulate, cogent, and compelling in his opposition to radically redefining marriage, saying that "this request isn't just misplaced, but is actually logically impossible." Now, however, Frum has changed his mind. In a short CNN op-ed last week, he wrote that "the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test." Tested? Only five out of the fifty states (soon to...

David Frum makes the argument that the spending cuts promised in the 1990 "read my lips" tax hike budget deal indeed did come to fruition (contra to my argument yesterday). He argues that, since spending as a percent of the economy declined in the 1990s, the spending cuts must have materialized.This is eminently-wrong for several reasons: CBO data shows that the promise--$274 billion in baseline spending cuts--not only didn't happen, but that baseline spending actually increased by $22 billion. This is simply what the data show. Spending as a percent of the economy did decline in the 1990s, but not...

I was a strong opponent of same-sex marriage. Fourteen years ago, Andrew Sullivan and I forcefully debated the issue at length online (at a time when online debate was a brand new thing). Yet I find myself strangely untroubled by New York state's vote to authorize same-sex marriage -- a vote that probably signals that most of "blue" states will follow within the next 10 years. I don't think I'm alone in my reaction either. Most conservatives have reacted with calm -- if not outright approval -- to New York's dramatic decision. Why? The short answer is that the case...

So Obama could lose if -- and here's the big if -- Republicans do not blow the opportunity by presenting themselves as Medicare-annihilating racist maniacs... Tea Party conservatives complain that Republicans who advocate restraint, responsibility and moderation do so in order to be nice to Obama. That's utterly upside down. Restraint, responsibility and moderation are indispensable to the defeat of President Obama. It is Tea Party conservatism itself that is Obama's last, best hope for a second term.

Not every Republican lives in Greenwich and earns millions. For non-wealthy Republicans – as for non-wealthy Americans generally – the past half-decade has been a terrible time. Perhaps they have seen their house collapse in value. Perhaps they have lost their home altogether. Perhaps their retirement portfolio lost its value. Perhaps they have lost a job. Perhaps their child cannot start a job. Perhaps they have been hit by all of the above. Or maybe they got lucky. Maybe they escaped any particular disaster. Yet they still face a reduced future. To repay its debts, the nation will need to...

Bill Kristol posts that he now believes that Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee and Michelle Bachmann will indeed all declare. The National Journal simultaneously reports that a Newt Gingrich declaration is imminent. Haley Barbour is definitely out. Marco Rubio is definitely out. Mitt Romney is clearly in. Tim Pawlenty is clearly in. Trump incredibly also seems inbound. Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, and Paul Ryan remain wild cards. Here’s one way to analyze what happens next. I sort the Republican candidates into three piles: CANDIDATES WHO COULD WIN THE NOMINATION Christie Pawlenty Ryan Romney (Bachmann is too obviously crazy. Daniels will be...

Here's a part of his post at CNN, where he is apparently a regular contributor, which makes the point: "Ben Smith in Politico reports that the trip was booked through a Christian tour operator. But the real news is who did not book the trip: the Republican Jewish Coalition, the group that brought George W. Bush to Israel in 1998, Mitt Romney in 2007, Haley Barbour in 2011, and many other presidential hopefuls beside. "Very likely you have never heard of the Republican Jewish Coalition. But then again, you probably are not seeking the Republican presidential nomination. If you were...

On CNN’s Reliable Sources, conservatives Jennifer Rubin and David Frum discussed the declining television ratings of Glenn Beck and the recent conservative attacks on him. Rubin said Beck was creating a bad image for the Republican party, whereas Frum, a longtime Beck critic, suggested audiences are just tired of hearing ludicrous conspiracy theories. Rubin, seemingly speaking on behalf of Beck’s “elite” conservative critics everywhere, said: “Sure he doesn’t need our approval and we’re not giving him our approval. But to the extent to which he wants to influence events, which is presumably why does it – other than the money...

Christie is not more conservative than Daniels, and arguably even less so. Christie told the Newark Star-Ledger that while personally pro-life, he won’t use his office to “shove that down people’s throats.” He supports New Jersey’s restrictive gun laws. And like Daniels, he has decided it’s tough enough to face his public-sector unions that he does not need to start an unrelated fight over right-to-work with private-sector unions. Yet the most acid-tongued of all right-wing commentators, Ann Coulter, has championed a Christie candidacy, asserting that if he declines to run, “Romney will be our nominee and we’ll lose.”

As my colleague Janet Daley notes, ConservativeHome USA has declared war on Sarah Palin, rounding up US conservatives who think she’d be a disaster as the next Republican presidential candidate. What I find strange, however, is the way it’s gone about it. In a piece signed by “The Editors”, ConHomeUSA has awarded anti-Palin Republicans the melodramatic title of “Truth Tellers”. And, rather bizarrely, it is recruiting for more: If you are a Truth Teller, or want to recommend a commentator who is, email us here. Don’t get me wrong. I think Sarah Palin is basically nuts, as I suggested when...

David Frum takes Sarah Palin to task for not being more public in her reaction to the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords, not being sufficiently empathetic, and not grasping the scope (no pun intended) of the accusations against her, What Palin Needed To Say After Giffords' Shooting: "Palin failed to appreciate the question being posed to her. That question was not: “Are you culpable for the shooting?” The question was: “Having put this unfortunate image on the record, can you respond to the shooting in a way that demonstrates your larger humanity? And possibly also your potential to serve as leader...

Stanley Kurtz on David Frum’s new effort to police political speech: Last week, the distinguished liberal thinker and activist William Galston, along with an equally distinguished conservative counterpart, David Frum, announced in the Washington Post the forthcoming founding of a new organization called “No Labels.” The stated aim of No Labels is to combat the “hyper-polarization” of American political debate by “calling out” politicians, media personalities, and opinion leaders who “recklessly demonize” opponents. Unfortunately, their announcement gives us reason to fear that No Labels will only increase the level of political acrimony by attempting to constrain debate, thereby exacerbating the...

With Kathleen Parker getting her own CNN show, David Frum is undoubtedly worried that he will be totally eclipsed among so-called conservatives with Palin Derangement Syndrome. So, in a little 59 word post portentously entitled, “Bigger Problems with Sarah Palin’s new book,” David Frum finds racism—yes, racism—in the following statement: PALIN FROM “AMERICA BY HEART”: “But from what I’ve read, family life at the time of the founding was a lot like family life for Americans today: full of challenges, sure, but also full of simple pleasures.” I’ll give you boilerplate, banality, throwaway, heartfelt cornpone… but racism? Really? Give up...

“A nightstick the size of a telephone pole and the muscle to wield it effortlessly.” Mike Huckabee, who knows a thing or two about insurgent campaigns, sees the power of the Palin candidacy. Taegan Goddard links this morning to the Des Moines Register: Mike Huckabee told the Des Moines Register that Sarah Palin would be a strong contender for president should she decide to run. Said Huckabee: “No question, she will be a very, very strong presence and force, if she gets in. You know, she may run away with it. And that’s one of those things everyone needs...

Admittedly, that David Frum is obsessed with Governor Palin isn't exactly a news bulletin, but Frum's Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS) has reached a level of hysteria hitherto unseen. Frum, of course, is the faux armchair conservative who believes the path to Republican ascendancy is for us all to become Democrats. The thorough drubbing Democrats took at the hands of Republicans three weeks ago, most of whom ran on solidly conservative platforms, demonstrates just how wrong Frum is. But I digress. In the past three days, Frum has written no less than six posts on Governor Palin. Can you say obsession?...

One of the Times’ favorite putative conservatives, former Bush speechwriter and book author David Frum, has gotten a lot of play in the paper by criticizing conservatives for rejecting Obama-care and listening to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Now Frum has become the paper’s idea of a conservative idea man. Just like the paper’s occasionally-right-of-center David Brooks, he’s a “conservative” that Obama and the Times can tolerate -- the kind who is constantly criticizing his alleged fellow conservatives. The latest Times Sunday Magazine features an “Idea Lab” article by Frum, “Post-Tea-Party Nation,” illustrated with a drawing of a sleeping elephant....

I’m not going to go on at length about David Frum. We all know who he is; we all know what he is and what he represents. He’s a “conservative” who gets his jollies and press gigs railing at actual conservatives, along the lines of Kathleen Parker and, during the 2008 campaign, Peggy Noonan. Parker has gone on to CNN infamy alongside Eliot Spitzer, while Noonan has tried to rehab herself by claiming that the Tea Party saved the GOP. She’s right about that, but only from a rearview mirror perspective. It’s easy to get stuff right after it’s already...

Republican political strategist Mark McKinnon – veteran of McCain and Bush presidential campaigns – acknowledged in an interview with David Frum that a third-party presidential effort for 2012 was not far off, and hinted at his involvement in one. In the podcast interview, McKinnon, who was discussing his recent Daily Beast column “A Centrist Manifesto”, lamented that “there’s nobody that gets rewarded for bipartisan behavior, [and] in fact they get punished.” To that end, he said, “there is a very real possibility for a legitimate third party effort for 2012 … American voters are so hungry for more voice, and...

Conservatives need to understand what is at stake and get their act together. The misunderstandings revolving around Sarah Palin and the Tea Party appear to be ubiquitous. Canada, where I live and write, is no exception to this tarnished rule. Sarah Palin is generally regarded as a hyper-emotional hussy whose message is purely reactive rather than proactive, while the Tea Party is supposedly vitiated by a lowest common denominator of right-wing vehemence, unbecoming religiosity, and a simplistic attitude toward political reality. This is strangely the case among many conservative intellectuals as well. The acclaimed commentator and beltway insider David Frum,...