Free Republic

Barack Obama has proven a difficult target to hit—just ask Hillary Clinton. Opposition researchers, though, hope that they’ve found a weapon to wound Obama in his own voice as recorded for the Grammy Award-winning audio version of his 1995 memoir, “Dreams from My Father.” While candidates often have their own words turned against them in attack ads, it’s one thing to see past statements in bloc text and something else entirely to hear the same words in the office-seeker’s own voice.

The Supreme Court's invalidation of the District of Columbia's handgun ban powerfully shows that the conservative rhetoric about judicial restraint is a lie. In striking down the law, Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion, joined by the court's four other most conservative justices, is quite activist in pursuing the conservative political agenda of protecting gun owners. If the terms "judicial activism" and "judicial restraint" have any meaning, it is that a court is activist when it is invalidating laws and overruling precedent, and restrained when deferring to popularly elected legislatures and following prior decisions. ... What then explains the court's decision...

The Supreme Court's invalidation of the District of Columbia's handgun ban powerfully shows that the conservative rhetoric about judicial restraint is a lie. In striking down the law, Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion, joined by the court's four other most conservative justices, is quite activist in pursuing the conservative political agenda of protecting gun owners. If the terms "judicial activism" and "judicial restraint" have any meaning, it is that a court is activist when it is invalidating laws and overruling precedent, and restrained when deferring to popularly elected legislatures and following prior decisions. Never before had the Supreme Court found...

HH: I want to begin with Mark Steyn, who has managed to leave the British Columbia courthouse wherein the British Columbia Human Rights tribunal is meeting to try him. He’s in the dock. He’s across the street from the courthouse. Mr. Steyn, welcome, how goes the affairs up there? MS: Well, I’m glad to be able to shake off the fellows from the British Columbia Sheriff’s department. It’s very bizarre to me. They said they’d had, they’d been following me around everywhere in the building I go because they say there are security concerns. And it’s not clear whether it’s...

Canada's descent into self-mockery opened today with the start of trial of Mark Steyn on allegations of human rights violations by the British Columbia Human Rights Commission.

Free Rock Concert Preceded Big Obama Rally in Portland Hugh Hewitt just told me that right before Obama addressed that huge crowd in Portland, the indie rock band the Decemberists played a free 45-minute concert. Now, I'm sure Obama would draw a big crowd either way, but wasn't that worth mentioning in the coverage? From Wikipedia: "Named both in reference to the Russian Decembrist Revolt (which may explain its use of the National Anthem of the Soviet Union as an introduction at many concerts)..." Lovely. I wonder if they played, "Sixteen Military Wives." The video depicts a bully named "Henry...

If Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne announces that the polar bear is now officially "threatened," the impacts on the American economy will be extreme and almost certainly not anticipated or understood by the public at large.The Endangered Species Act operates in a very unaccountable fashion, and if the polar bear is listed as a "threatened" species, every federal action --the grant of a permit, the award of a grant-- that leads even indirectly to the emission of greenhouse gases will come under at least the theoretical review of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service pursuant to Section 7 of...

AEI scholar Michael Rubin's very sober analysis of Iran April 16, 2008 HH: Joined now by Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, one of the country’s leading authorities on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Michael Rubin, last week, Vice President Cheney was on the program, and I talked to him about 12th Imamism, and about Ahmadinejad. And the left has gone crazy, and they’ve been throwing bricks at him, because he said we should take very seriously what Ahmadinejad says, and we should be concerned about sort of a millennialist outlook. And I’ve been waiting to talk to you...

Sunday, March 23, 2008 McCain-Romney?Posted by: Hugh Hewitt  at 9:50 AM The Boston Globe's Joan Vennochi is no fan of Mitt Romney, but her column today looks at the many upsides to McCain's selection of Romney as his running mate.  Key graphs: At a time when the economy frightens everyone from Main Street to Wall Street, Romney has the most extensive and successful business background of any candidate on the national stage. McCain admits that economic theory is not his strong point.... Even if Massachusetts is more than a long shot, Romney might help McCain snatch New Hampshire from the...

HH: It is the day that we are joined by Mark Steyn. We always enjoy that. All of his writing is available at www.steynonline.com. Mark, I’m wondering if you were as dispirited by the five year look backs at the invasion of Iraq as I was yesterday. MS: Yes, I think it’s clear that Iraq has actually dropped off the media radar screen since the surge proved to be working. As far as the mainstream media are concerned, no news is good news. Good news is no news from Iraq. So if things are going well, they tend not to...

We all know Mitt Romney thanks to Huck and McCain tag-teaming him lost big Tuesday but he wasn't the biggest loser of the night. That title goes to none other than Hugh Hewitt, shill extraordinaire who has been spinning basically any news item into proof that his Romney was going to win. I really never should have tuned in after his massively delusional 2000 and 2006 performances but sadly for me, I did. God help me if I ever listen to the schmuck again. He has managed to actually be less accurate than Dick Morris which says a lot.

John McCain heads into Tuesday's Florida primary facing resistance from not only his fellow candidates, but also from the leaders of conservative talk radio, who some suggest have put their reputations on the line, as well. Talk radio pioneer Rush Limbaugh said that if McCain or Mike Huckabee are nominated, "it's going to destroy the Republican Party." Mark Levin calls the senator "John McLame." On Monday, Laura Ingraham said she was "concerned about the mental stability of the McCain campaign" and had cuckoo-clock sound effects accompany his words. "Sen. McCain is a great American, a lousy senator and a terrible...

The new year is only a couple of weeks old. This is 2008 an election year, yet the MSM is already calling it over for several candidates. Among them Fred Thompson. Why are they calling for him to drop out? It's because of his message. The only candidate that does not seem to have special interest backers or a huge war chest. One that speaks more common sense then the others and is smarter than the others. Fred did not spend 2007 stomping the nation drumming up delegates. This is the reason the MSM and many so-called right/conservative pundits are...

HH: We begin this Thursday as we do every Thursday when we are lucky with Columnist to the World, Mark Steyn. Mark, I’ve often said that if I predecease you, I hope someone will beg you to pen a word or two about me, because you’re such a find obituary writer. Sir Edmund Hillary has died today at the age of 88. I wonder what your thoughts are about this icon of the 20th Century. MS: Yes, he’s a great man. For a certain generation of people, he is the greatest New Zealander of the 20th Century. And if you’re...

There are lots of Republicans who will vote for the candidate they think can beat either Senator Clinton or Obama in November. "Just win, baby," is Al Davis' memorable phrase, and the need to keep the White House in center-right hands during the war and as four to six Supreme Court vacancies looms matters more than any particular issue. The GOP voter who wants the best shot looks at McCain and Thompson and thinks "Bob Dole." They look at Huck and think "We'd lose 45 states, maybe more." They wonder where Rudy went and if he'll be back. In Iowa...

I watched the entire debate on a JetBlue cross-country flight, missing only one answer where Romney said something about eduction that made the Luntz focus group needles hit the ceiling of approval. (The captain was updating us on landing time.) I was also able to hear Fred, Morton, Brit and Nina chew on the results, but it was the collective reaction of the Frank Luntz focus group on the Fox News Channel that was most riveting. Watch it for yourself. Romney swept nearly the entire room. If that group reflects the GOP primary electorate, Romney helped himself immensely today. Coupled...

Instead of quoting from an AP release of the story that sensationalized one aspect of a 12 page article in which he was first baited into commenting on whether Mormonism is a cult or religion (Huckabee answers, "religion") he (Hugh Hewitt) should have done due diligence...

So the man that National Review endorsed for President - has endorsed his chief rival for that same office:

As Republican primary campaign slogans go, "Endorsed by Frank Rich" might not be a candidate's strongest play. But for better or worse Mike Huckabee is essentially stuck with it after Rich's NYT's column of yesterday. The ostensible theme of "The Republicans Find Their Obama" is that Republican voters are leaning toward Huckabee for the same reason that Dems are trending to Obama: that both men are relatively young, speak across racial lines, are witty and avoid hyper-partisanship. But dig down a bit deeper, and it appears that Huckabee's real appeal for Rich is that, social issues aside, he is the...

A couple of years ago, I debated a professor from American University named John Doolittle who, prompted by me, admitted that Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wisconsin (1908-1957), may have exposed some real communists working in the federal government. “But I saw the Edward R. Murrow broadcasts,” Dr. Doolittle added. “He was a bad man.”

"Sometimes, a candidate’s worst enemy isn’t his most staunch opponent, but his most overzealous fan. Mitt Romney’s speech was welcome and well-delivered. But come on:"

THREE HOUR STEYNORAMA! This afternoon, Mark guest-hosts for Hugh Hewitt and talks Mitt, Huck, and the rest of the news, coast to coast at 6pm Eastern/3pm Pacific Join us for the best accent in conservative talk radio!

For nearly a year MSMers have been demanding Mitt Romney give a speech about his religion. Now the former Massachusetts governor announces he will give a speech about religious liberty --five days before absentee ballots are available in New Hampshire, and days before the country tunes out politics for carols, family, turkey and football-- and the big media turn on cue and begin to focus everything on the Bush Library and the speech. Romney will walk on to a stage with a thousand reporters and hundreds of thousands of voters watching and give a speech on --religious liberty. He will...

HH: Normally, he joins us on Thursday, but because we will be replaying a great broadcast from the past tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day, I’m pleased to welcome a day early Mark Steyn, Columnist to the World. Mark, is your turducken in the oven? MS: (laughing) It’s not in the oven, but the turducken has landed. He flew in from Johnsbury, Vermont a couple of hours ago. It was circling the house, and landed on the porch, and is ready to go for tomorrow. HH: Now do you have any idea how to cook a turducken, Mr. Steyn? MS: Well, actually,...

Every four years pundits get to swing for the fences. Only the timid split differences and hairs. The pundits worth reading will declare what they see in the very cloudy crystal ball. Here's my take. There are two very separate battles within the fight for the GOP presidential nomination. There is the contest between Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Fred Thompson to be the conservative challenger to Rudy Giuliani. And then there is the contest between that challenger and the former New York City mayor. It is Rudy's hope that the race to be his opponent for the Republican nomination...

Executive Director of the National Right To Life will be on Hugh Hewitt's 3rd hour. www.krla870.com should be interesting

Louis Freeh would go on to become director of the FBI in the1990s, but back then he ran the organized crime unit under Giuliani. He said, "Rudy's security was a serious issue. "We would sit down with him and sort of give him a security plan or advise him that he ought to have a bodyguard when he traveled around," said Freeh. "He would listen to us as he always did very carefully and say, 'I don't want that. Our job here is to be U.S. attorneys and prosecutors and if we are walking around with bodyguards we are sending...

When Rudy Giuliani captured the endorsement of Christian Coalition founder and 700 Club host Pat Robertson Wednesday, many heads turned. Why did it happen? What does it mean?...

Cancel the 2008 election. Fred Thompson will be our next president. OK, perhaps such announcements are premature. But based on campaign contributions from Johnson County residents, Republican candidate Thompson leads the pack by a wide margin. Johnson County voters donated $37,200 to Thompson’s campaign through Sept. 30, based on Federal Election Commission numbers recently released. Of that total, $34,600 came from Cleburne voters. See below for a breakdown of Johnson County residents’ donation amounts. “Thompson’s down to earth, has a lot of common sense, and there’s no phoniness about him,” said Cleburne resident David Murdoch, who gave money to the...

Article at link...

As the phoney "phoney soldier" controversy swirled today --and Rush is in no hurry to end it as it reflects well on him and poorly on Senate Democrats-- Fred Thompson released a statemnt blasting the attack on Rush. Rush was discussing it today, and e-in-box began to fill up with complaints that Mitt Romney had abandoned Rush. I shot off a query to the Romney campaign: What is this all about? Not only did the campaign respond immediately, Governor Romney called the show to discuss the controversy and state that Rush has "got a long record of supporting our soldiers....

"This is a devil, and no monster; I will leave him; I have no long spoon.'" --Shakespear, The Tempest On Tuesday a group of Manhattan's elite accepted an invitation to dine with Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadienajd. Time Magazine's Richard Stengel recounts the vening here, and gives us a glimpse of the guest list which included NBC's Brian Williams and CNN's Christiane Amanpour. Stengel's column began: The invitation was on creamy stationery with fancy calligraphy: The Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran "requests the pleasure" of my company to dine with H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dinner is at...

Friday September 21, 2007 Yoni Tidi, Victor Davis Hanson, Dennis Prager With Hugh Hewitt Hewitt: Hour 1 - Hugh shares his outrage at the decision by Columbia University to invite Iranian president and terrorist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at their college next week.     Length: 00:34:03 Transcript: HH: Professor Hanson, thanks for making a quick stop by. What do you make of Columbia’s decision? VDH: Well, I think it’s a mistake, because it’s not just a lack of common sense, it’s a lack of common decency. This is a man that probably was involved in the terrorist kidnapping in 1979....

September 6, 2007Posted by: Hugh Hewitt  at 9:55 AMThe most comprehensive report on Fred Thompson's cancer I have seen is here.  (HT: Politico.)  Key graphs: ``The nature of the disease is that it tends to relapse,'' said David Fisher, a lymphoma specialist and assistant professor of medicine at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. ``How long one can live with the disease varies considerably.'' ... Thompson's cancer is an uncommon form called nodal marginal zone lymphoma, which accounts for 2 percent to 4 percent of all cases, according to Owen O'Connor, chief of the lymphoma service at Columbia Presbyterian Medical...

Hugh Hewitt Interviews Ron Paul supporters at the Townhall.com Texas Republican Straw Poll...

Exclusive: Pulitzer Prize Winning NY Times Writer: Pelosi, Reid are Wrong, The Petraeus Surge is Working The EditorsAuthor: The EditorsSource: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.Date: August 9, 2007  John Burns, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, recently commented about fears of a Tet-like offensive by al Qaeda’s fighters and possible attacks by radical Shiia militias prior to the Petraeus report. Radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Burns if there have been warnings about such threats. Pulitzer Prize Winning NY Times Writer: Pelosi, Reid are Wrong The Petraeus Surge is Working  By the Editors Radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt recently conducted an extensive interview with...

The netroots is reveling in Chicago, and the natural reaction is to ask, “Where’s our YearlyKos?” It’s a good question, but ultimately a short-sighted one from an historical perspective. Go back and re-read the TNR piece on the netroots from May. Especially this part: The Democratic leadership and the liberal intelligentsia seemed pathetic and exhausted, wedded to musty ideals of bipartisanship and decorousness. Meanwhile, what the netroots saw in the Republican Party, they largely admired. They saw a genuine mass movement built up over several decades. They saw a powerful message machine. And they saw a political elite bound together...

Much has been said in the mainstream media about how the Bush presidency is essentially over, a lame duck mired in controversy. Thursday, however, George W. Bush demonstrated that when he does wish to use the bully pulpit, especially with powerful allies like Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, he very much can move legislation through in a very timely fashion. Throughout this week in both houses of Congress, there has been consideration and negotiation on a piece of legislation submitted by Vice Admiral Mike McConnell, the National Director of Intelligence, who very clearly spelled out in Congressional testimony...

A Wartime President Hugh Hewitt President Bush invited ten talk hosts into the Oval Office for an hour of conversation today --Glenn Beck, Bill Bennett, Neal Boortz, Scott Hennon, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larson, Mark Levin, Michael Medved, Janet Parshall and me. This was an off-the-record conversation, and so I won't be quoting the president. I will say on today's show that I am confident about the course of the war and about the momentum in Iraq, as well of the president's absolute commitment to doing right by the troops and his concern for every lost and wounded soldier and their...

Tune in today to the Hugh Hewitt show. If you can't get him on local radio, the steam can be found at KRLA 870 DOT COM Peter and I will be on the show at approximately 3:20pm, Pacific. Hillary, Bill, Howard Wolfson, Kelly Craighead, Chelsea, Rendell, McAuliffe, etc, I hope you are listening. We will see all of you under oath. Streisand, are you ready to raise your right hand? Hillary, you claim to not recall anything, but you are going to be watching five hours of home video and asked to explain. I'll bring you some popcorn. Yeah, in...

President Bush made an excellent speech this week, laying out the case that al Qaeda in Iraq is a subsidiary of al Qaeda in Waziristan. He went further, and delineated the differences between the various terrorist organizations which share an ideology. His central premise --a retreat in Iraq means a huge win for al Qaeda everywhere it organizes-- was carefully constructed and reasoned and simply cannot be argued by the war's critics, only ignored. Which is exactly what Congressional Democrats and the anti-war zealots have proceeded to do. There is a certain panic in the anti-war leadership as they see...

If you don't have a local station that carries Hugh Hewitt, you can listen online. LISTEN ON FRIDAY TO HUGH HEWITT ON KRLA - BEGINS 3PM PACIFIC For the first time in a great while Peter Paul will take center stage on a national talk show to discuss Hillary Clinton and the greatest campaign finance fraud in history. I will be joining him on the show. The Hugh Hewitt show begins at 3pm, Pacific Time. Unless things are changed by the producer, we will be on at around 3:20pm. Do not miss the show and please pass it on. Perhaps...

Politico's Jeanne Cummings has a story on the dollar gap that is opening between the Dems and Republicans. It is large and growing, and a complete turnaround from the ordinary situation. So, what is going on? There are three answers. First, the top tier GOP presidential candidates are equally matched and there's a lot of money on the sidelines waiting for the main event to begin. When a strong frontrunner emerges who begins to take the campaign to the Dems, especially on the war, the contributions will flow. If Romney is that nominee, expect some serious 527 efforts as well...

This is a link to the Center Media Archives ad the David Horowitz Freedom Center. There is a video of Hugh Hewitt talking about culture, the war on terror, and politics.

HH: We begin today, Thursday the 5th, as we do most Thursdays when we are lucky with Columnist to the World, Mark Steyn. Mark, a good day after Independence Day to you. MS: Yeah, and a happy day after Independence Day, and I think four days after Dominion Day for any two or three Canadians still listening. HH: I’m sure there are more than that. Thank you. I was missing your Atlantic obituary today, Mark Steyn, because I read of the death of Gottfried von Bismarck. And I assumed that you had opportunity to cover him in the past. MS:...

Dean Barnett is filling in and a caller wanted to discuss the Mexican truck issue and NAFTA super highway in ligh of todays vote. In keeping with the show, the caller was dismissed as "paranoid". The Mexican truck issue is real and they will be running over your loved ones soon if W has his way. I called and was sceened out, they aren't taking calls about that. That seems to be the pattern there. A recent caller wanted to discuss the effort to revive the "assault weapons ban". He was dismissed because Hugh doesn't think anyone should have a...

WASHINGTON — Immigration has supplanted Iraq as the leading issue on television and radio talk shows, complicating the prospects of a Senate bill desperately wanted by President Bush. Conservative talk radio's impact on the immigration debate reached new heights last week, with one host effectively writing an amendment for when the Senate returns to the imperiled bill this week. National talk-show hosts have spent months denouncing the bill as providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. Some top Republicans who support the legislation have defied the broadcast pundits. Other GOP lawmakers have tried to placate them, even to the point of accepting...

Talk shows influence immigration debate By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Immigration has supplanted Iraq as the leading issue on television and radio talk shows, complicating the prospects of a Senate bill desperately wanted by President Bush. Conservative talk radio's impact on the immigration debate reached new heights last week, with one host effectively writing an amendment for when the Senate returns to the imperiled bill this week. National talk show hosts have spent months denouncing the bill as providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. Some top Republicans who support the legislation have defied the broadcast pundits. Others GOP...

HH: Now Senator Kyl, why the attacks on talk radio from your colleagues, Senators Lott and Graham? It doesn’t, in any event, it cannot possibly help the party, and it can’t help the bill. What are they thinking? JK: You know, I hate to speak for my colleagues, but I can suggest in the case of Senator Lott, because I’ve talked to him about it, is just said in frustration. If you look at it from his standpoint and mine, there is so much misinformation, and by the way, a plug for you, whatever your feelings on the legislation, you’ve...

The first Christians were charged with blasphemy because they refused to confess “Caesar is Lord.� For this crime against the state, they were crucified, lit on fire, and served as human torches to light the evening parties in Caesar’s gardens. Jesus was the first to teach the separation of church and state. His followers were instructed to “Render unto Caesar, that which is Caesar’s, and to God, that which is God’s.� This was a direct challenge to the unified powers of Caesar as both priest and king. It was required of Roman citizens to proclaim “Caesar is Lord.� But for...