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In the lone piece of good news from last night, we have endured the last State of the Union speech from our current president. However, when South Carolina governor Nikki Haley delivered the Republican response, she inadvertently demonstrated the fundamental problem with today's Republican party. It is completely out of touch with its own base and the majority of ordinary Americans, and doesn't even realize it. Gov. Haley by all accounts is a very pleasant individual and a woman of character and faith. I'm sure she has genuinely conservative convictions. But you would have to look pretty hard to find...

Hardline conservatives should be celebrating the Republican response speech to the State of the Union, offered by Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina. The speech was a testament to how far the party is willing to go to cater to the putrid racism of the conservative base, as Haley, using her own background as the child of Indian immigrants, demonized immigrants and refugees fleeing war, and, in a particularly odious display, used the murder of nine people at the hands of a racist to scold Black Lives Matter protesters for speaking out. But the right just ain't having it, it...

Both President Barack Obama and Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley -- who delivered the GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union -- seemed to speak directly to Donald Trump at times on Tuesday night. In fact, they had strikingly similar messages of tolerance and bipartisanship. While they wouldn't agree on much policy, at many moments their speeches sounded very similar. Can you tell the difference? 1) We need to be honest with each other, and with ourselves: While Democrats in Washington bear much responsibility for the problems facing America today, they do not bear it alone. There is...

In A Night At The Opera, Groucho Marx's carriage, running late, pulls up at the opera house, and he asks whether he's missed the opera. There's still a few minutes left, says the doorman. Groucho barks at his driver: "I told you to slow that nag down.... Once around the park, and drive slowly." That's my approach to the State of the Union. I took it once around the park and slowly, and arrived home just as President Obama was schmoozing and gladhanding his way out the door. But, alas, I had forgotten the Official Response to the State of...

Longtime readers know that I am not exactly the strongest supporter of Donald Trump.  As a big employer of illegal aliens and a five-time party switcher, his commitment lends itself to some doubts.  But that is no excuse to criticize him in a forum meant to represent the Republican Party response to the Democratic Party.  That is, however, just what South Carolina governor Nikki Haley did. According to her prepared remarks, Haley said: During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices," she will say, suggesting that Trump is an irrational, angry...

We're in a weird place when the GOP's SOTU rebuttal is essentially a rebuttal of the GOP frontrunner. And lest you think that was all Haley, she acknowledged today that her speech, as is customary, was approved by party leaders before she delivered it. It was a group effort. I, for one, welcome the impending Republican crack-up!

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) - The next Republican president will "respect" different forms of marriages, including same-sex "marriages," South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in last night's Republican response to the State of the Union address. "If we [Republicans] held the White House," she said, "we would respect differences in modern families, but we would also insist on respect for religious liberty as a cornerstone of our democracy." Even the terminology "modern families" evokes the ABC sitcom featuring a homosexual couple raising a child. The GOP has been uncertain how to respond to the Supreme Court's Obergefell v....

Following is the full text of the Republican Address to the Nation by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), as prepared for delivery: "Good evening. "I'm Joni Ernst. As a mother, a soldier, and a newly elected senator from the great State of Iowa, I am proud to speak with you tonight. "A few moments ago, we heard the President lay out his vision for the year to come. Even if we may not always agree, it's important to hear different points of view in this great country. We appreciate the President sharing his. "Tonight though, rather than respond to a speech,...

First, let it be known that I am on the record many times declaring the tradition of the State of the Union and the State of the Union response as the worst monsters of democracy. I swear I would vote for anyone who promised to go back to sending a letter to Congress.If the SOTU is a dry, boring, laundry list of impossible goals and partisan cheap shots, the SOTU response is an even bleaker task. It has famously tripped up many a comer—Republicans more than Democrats, not because Democrats are any better but because the press is much...

Stop the presses! The Huffington Post has an incredible scoop about Ted Cruz's response to Obama's State Of The Union address last night. Your expectations will be understandably high when you see the headline they placed on the story: The Ted Cruz Speech He Did Not Want You To See. So what horror did Cruz commit in his speech that he "Did Not Want You To See?" Did he accidentally agree with Obama's tax and spend policies? Or perhaps he let out with a profane curse? Nope. Watch the video for yourself and it will put you in mind of...

Liberal icon and current ESPN host Keith Olbermann took to Twitter Wednesday night to callously mock Sen. Joni Ernst for her growing up in a poor working family in Red Oak, Iowa. Ernst spoke of her childhood when she gave the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address: “As a young girl, I plowed the fields of our family farm. I worked construction with my dad. To save for college, I worked the morning biscuit line at Hardees. “We were raised to live simply, not to waste. It was a lesson my mother taught me every...

Watching Sen. Joni Ernst Tuesday night, I found myself thinking: If there’s a GOP establishment, it must consist of secret Democrats, because they so reliably sabotage their rising stars by assigning them the reply to President Obama’s annual State of the Union address, way before they’re ready. Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sen. Marco Rubio moved from 2016 contenders to punch lines in moments. Ernst seemed headed the same way, with her robotic sing-song delivery and her head-scratching anecdotes about bread bags on her shoes and working the biscuit lines at Hardees. She was clearly working to show voters that she’s...

The top republicans in Congress have tapped pro-life Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa to deliver the GOP response to pro-abortion President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address next week. “Sen. Ernst brings a unique perspective to the Senate. She is a mother, a soldier and an independent leader who serves in Washington because Americans voted for change in the last election, and Joni understands that middle-class Americans want Congress to get back to work and that they want Washington to get refocused on their concerns, instead of those of the political class,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in...

HERSHEY, Pa. — Republican congressional leaders announced Thursday that they had picked one of their newly elected members, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, to deliver the party’s response to President Obama’s State of the Union address next week... Mr. McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, made the announcement at the House and Senate Republican policy retreat... The selection of Mrs. Ernst ruffled environmentalists, who oppose her views on climate change... Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/15/joni-ernst-deliver-gop-response-state-union/#ixzz3OvyXcXjD Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

The Tea Party Express has announced that Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, will deliver the official tea party response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address following the Republican response. The Tea Party Express, a political action committee, has hosted a response since 2011 when Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., gave the response. Former presidential candidate Herman Cain gave the response in 2012 and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., gave the response in 2013.

Senator Mike Lee to deliver Tea Party response to President Obama's State of the Union We have some great news to share with you!  Tea Party Express, the nation's largest Tea Party political action committee, will host the official Tea Party response to President Obama's State of the Union Address directly following the Republican response. Senator Mike Lee will deliver the Tea Party response at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and will focus on issues that are important and unique to you and me. Senator Mike Lee to deliver the official Tea Party response to the State...

Freepers! Marco Rubio is just great and what a sense of humor. This is exactly how to respond to liberal hubris and their synthetic, hibrow, intellect. You need this water bottle if only to get Marco notice from now on. He is going to be Yuge and you need to support him.

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul reacted to President Obama's SOTU address with John Stossel on Fox Business Network. Paul said in the speech, "certainly we didn't get any answers tonight" to the key issues facing the nation. "Everything on the surface looks like it's welfare-ism and warfare-ism. But I think underneath there's a smoldering desire that is growing by leaps and bounds that saying that a lot of people in this country have had enough of it..."

Barack Obama speaks at 9 p.m. EST. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) gives the GOP response after Obama speaks. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) gives the Tea Party Express response around 10 p.m.Sen. Paul's speech can be seen live on the Tea Party Express website.

Did you see shocker rocker/gun advocate Ted Nugent attending President Obama’s State of the Union address? At first reporters had a hard time finding him, but eventually the cameras discovered the Motor City Madman high in the House gallery, sitting quietly in the crowd, with his hat off, wearing non-camouflage clothing. He looked out of place, like a cowboy at a piano recital. He also looked bored. “My favorite part was when I couldn’t hear clearly,” said Mr. Nugent to reporters after the address. “Then, I didn’t get angry.” But Ted Nugent’s Excellent Washington Adventure was not an exercise in...