Free Republic

In his second term, Richard Nixon had Watergate, but also the rescue of Israel in the Yom Kippur War. In his second term, Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra, but also a treaty eliminating U.S. and Soviet missiles in Europe, his "tear-down-this-wall" moment in Berlin and his lead role in ending the Cold War. In his second term, Bill Clinton had Monica, but also came close to a peace treaty between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. Obama's second-term scandals — IRS, Benghazi, wiretapping The Associated Press and Fox — are in the low-kiloton range compared to the resignation of Nixon or the...

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) recently expressed his concern about Sarah Palin someday becoming president and having control over the information gathered by the U.S government about Americans citizens. In an interview with Shark-Tank.net, Rep. Grayson said he has introduced a bill, 'The Mind Your Own Business Act,' that would ban the U.S. Department of Defense from gathering Internet, phone and other personal information about U.S. citizens without probable cause or evidence of a criminal offense, which is what the Fourth Amendment is supposed to do. Rep. Grayson explained how 'The Mind Your Own Business Act' was modeled "very closely after...

Can anybody unite a party that’s at war with itself? That’s the question Republicans are asking, and the answer might be former vice-presidential contender Paul Ryan, whose low profile amidst the intra-party squabbling suggests he is deftly positioning himself as Speaker in waiting or the GOP’s last best hope for 2016—either way a Hobson’s choice given the demoralized state of the party. Ryan wrote the budget that balances in 10 years, and that helped bring Congress to its knees, unable to find the votes to pass any of its traditional priorities, a farm bill or a transportation bill, much less...

Last week we ran a story analyzing an op-ed piece that one-time Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean wrote for the Wall Street Journal in which the former Governor of Vermont conceded that the Independent Payment Advisory Board was “essentially a health-care rationing body.” ObamaCare has been controversial from long before it passed by the narrowest of margins and probably no facet has drawn more critics that the IPAB. National Right to Life laid out the rationing problems that are part and parcel of the IPAB from the very beginning (www.nrlc.org/HealthCareRationing/ObamaHCRationingBasicDOCUMENTATION.pdf). Thus it was helpful that Dean admitted there really was...

Money line: “This is what I do for a living.” Didn’t he predict a Bush/Clinton race in 2016 just nine months ago? If he believes what he says here about the parties swinging like “pendulums” from moderate nominees to ideologues and then back again, why would he have named Jeb as a strong contender last November? In fact, the roots of the counterargument are in Matthews’s own shpiel here: Most of the time, they head to the center. This is what Republicans did most successfully in 1952 – when, after twenty years of Roosevelt and Harry Truman – they wanted...

The former governor and perhaps future senatorial candidate of Alaska is using her Twitter account to make one thing clear. Ever since she emerged on the national stage, basically everything she has said has been right. She was right about Fannie and Freddie. The tweet: Sarah Palin ✔ @SarahPalinUSA Hey media, now do you get it? http://fb.me/2wOtMgTqo 11:29 AM - 7 Aug 2013 218 Retweets 100 favorites The issue: The "it" to which she refers is her argument in September 2009 that the mortgage companies had "gotten too big and too expensive" for taxpayers. The vindication: The president's announcement on...

Freshman Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and some other Republicans think they know why the GOP didn't win the last two presidential elections: They weren't conservative enough. "If you look at the last 40 years, a constant pattern emerges," Cruz told ABC. "Anytime Republicans nominate a candidate for president who runs as a strong conservative, we win. And when we nominate a moderate who doesn't run as a conservative, we lose." It's not a new thought, but it's dead wrong on several different levels. First of all you have to pretty far in right field to think John McCain and Mitt...

Mickey: Stay down, Stay down Rocky 1974 John Rambo: Live for nothing or Die for Something Rambo 2008 I was watching Morning Joe today and as usual the entire table was united in asserting that Ted Cruz and the Tea Party caucus was wrong to consider fighting to de-fund Obamacare highlighting a piece by Krauthammer This is about tactics. If I thought this would work, I would support it. But I don’t fancy suicide. It has a tendency to be fatal. They stressed the wisdom of Krauthammer’s assertion that the GOP should not fight. It seemed an odd assertion since...

A gun-rights group in the bellwether presidential primary state of New Hampshire has warned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie that signing gun control bills passed by his state's Legislature could have consequences if he runs for president in 2016. The Pro-Gun New Hampshire coalition urged its members this week to call and email Christie to ask him to veto the proposed laws, posing a political dilemma for Christie as he seeks re-election in November in the Democratic-leaning state while also eyeing the national stage. Christie has a September deadline to sign a number of firearm-related bills seen by their supporters...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here's Greg in Nashua, New Hampshire. You're next on the EIB Network. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Based on what you're saying about the Republican Party abandoning a large chunk of the American population -- including conservatives -- or even being any real opposition to the Democrats on Obamacare and apparently everything else, I'm wondering whether Sarah Palin's recent gambit that if the GOP... I think she calls them the GOP brain trust on the Greta show. If the GOP is indeed abandoning her as well as a large swath of American voters, she's going independent. Palin is...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)When truth is prevented from ever reaching the ears of the American public during a presidential campaign the consequences can often be tragic. Consider the case of the 2008 mainstream media cover up and strict avoidance of Obama’s long time connection to Black Nationalist minister Jeremiah Wright and his firebrand racist comments. The media shackled the truth and allowed then U.S. Senator Obama to skate all the way to his election as president. What is even worse was former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s recent revelation that the John McCain presidential campaign actually banned her from talking about Rev. Jeremiah Wright...

For the creation was subfected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope... Rom 8:20 The Establishmedia is all atwitter that Obama was able to give speech on the economy and not put the entire country to sleep with his recycled pabulum. He obviously does not have his heart into giving speeches about the economy the way he does about racism. One he thinks he knows something about and the other he has not gotten a clue which the economy proves. Can anybody say they are better off today...

In a preview of the debate to come within the Republican Party ahead of the 2016 presidential election, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie denounced Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other libertarians as having "dangerous" views on foreign policy. At a Republican governors forum in Aspen, Colo., Christie railed against opposition to the National Security Agency surveillance programs. On Wednesday, the House narrowly voted to defeat an amendment that would have curtailed the NSA's ability to collect data on telephone calls. Lumping Paul in with those House members, Christie suggested that Paul and other libertarians should explain their positions to widows...

In a veiled shot at influential neoconservatives within the Republican Party, Sen. Rand Paul tells The Brody File the following: “There are people who will do or say anything who are your enemies,” Paul said. “Those who believe in perpetual war are some of the most dangerous to our country, and I think they will do everything they can to try and vilify people who are trying to find a more reasoned approach where war is the last resort not the first resort.” While he didn’t mention any names, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Paul...

Fox News just released a nationwide poll in generall in keeping with many others, finding voters are unhappy with the economy and want Obamacare repealed. But what's truly eye-opening are the comparisons of partisan opinions of President Barack Obama and George Zimmerman, who was acquitted July 13 of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges for shooting unarmed Miami Gardens 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012. Republicans have a more-favorable opinion of Zimmerman, a figure of sympathy to a number of conservatives, than Obama. That's right: The Democratic occupant of the White House is held in less favorable regard by Republicans...

A Marist poll released Wednesday indicates that Hillary Clinton is the clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2016, and that there is a very crowded and tight field among Republicans. Yahoo asked voters: Which candidate are you backing and why? Here's one perspective. COMMENTARY | The latest Marist poll of potential presidential candidates shows a couple of interesting results. First, Hillary Clinton is blowing away other Democrats. Second, the Republicans appear to be bunched up with no clear front runner. Turning one's attention to the Republican field, one looks upon Ted Cruz, the junior senator from Texas. Hot Air,...

"Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis d’ Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835 The inspiration for this article occurred while reading "What about a third party candidate" by Rachel Lynn Robinson on Nolan Chart, www.nolanchart.com. Ms. Robinson, a Libertarian, asks: "Is it reasonable to elect a third party candidate simply based on their stance on a few key items?"...

Dear Sarah, I have never asked you for anything, but I am asking you to please lead the charge in helping us stop the Amnesty Bill from passing in the House. RUBIO is R.I.P. for me, so is McCain and the rest of the Gang of 8. Their careers mean nothing. Our country does. We’re stuck cleaning the damage they did by passing Amnesty in the Senate. As if that was not enough, they have the gall to continue working against us by targeting House Republicans to pass it there (see link below). They are disrespecting Americans and disregarding the...

We are out of Iraq; we are getting out of Afghanistan; there is no appetite for U.S. military engagement in Syria. What is a guy in uniform to do? On June 11, Michael Hirsh suggested that the United States has "lost its nerve" internationally. Obama, he argues, has stepped back from the global leadership role and military presence it once had. Many Americans support what Hirsh calls "America's gradual withdrawal from foreign entanglements" -- they want the U.S. military home soon, out of Afghanistan, and definitely not in Syria. Time, as my carpenter up in Maine says, for us to...

Senator Ted Cruz ✔ @SenTedCruz Reaganomics: You start a business in your parents' garage. Obamanomics: You move into your parents' garage. 6:51 PM - 20 Jul 2013 2,115 Retweets 695 favorites....

A leading House Democrat questioned Friday whether the Justice Department (DOJ) has the evidence to mount a civil rights case against George Zimmerman, the man acquitted of killing an unarmed black teenager in Florida. Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a television interview that "it seems unlikely" Attorney General Eric Holder would file discrimination charges against Zimmerman. The killing of Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman's subsequent acquittal have sparked demonstrations around the country. Protests were scheduled nationwide on Saturday as disappointed court-watchers urged DOJ to pursue charges against Zimmerman. Waxman's comments put...

Near the end of March 2010, as Republicans outside Kentucky realized that Rand Paul might actually become a senator, Paul’s opponent received an unexpected and important-looking endorsement. “I’m a lifelong conservative, and I can tell the real thing when I see it,” announced Dick Cheney. “I have looked at the records of both candidates in the race, and it is clear to me that Trey Grayson is right on the issues that matter—both on fiscal responsibility and on national security.” Paul’s campaign was half-unsurprised, half-amused. They’d seen this coming a week before, when former Cheney policy adviser Cesar Conda emailed...

Inspired by the tourism board of Detroit. A "Pure Michigan" parody. It's short, and you'll laugh your head off!

Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland's sole Republican representative in Congress, is receiving attention for comments he made on WMAL radio Tuesday about last week's verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman. "We're hung up on this one case where this one fellow was in fact found not guilty by a jury," Harris said during the interview. "That's the way the American law system works. Get over it." Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, fatally shot Trayvon Martin last year in a case that captured national attention. He was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges on Saturday, sparking protests around...

Sarah Palin rippled political waters a few weeks ago when she said she would be open to the idea of a new right wing political party. Palin was a guest on Mark Levin’s radio talk show, a popular venue for conservative audiences. A Twitter questioner asked, “Would you & Mark Levin be willing to build a 'Freedom Party' if GOP continues to ignore conservatives?” Her reply: "I love the name of that party, the 'Freedom Party. And if the GOP continues to back away from the planks in our platform, from the principles that built this party of Lincoln and...

A new 36-page e-book, purports to guide “undocumented immigrants” through the many numerous manners in which they can receive free government cell phones. Otherwise known as Obamaphones. The book is produced by a website called FreeGovernmentCellPhones.net, which is run by a man named Mark Henry. Henry had been linked to another pro-Obamaphone website prior to the election, which featured flattering imagery of candidate Obama, gave him credit for spreading the wealth around, and served as a campaign propaganda tool. In fact, the new guide for illegal immigrants doesn’t hide their love of the program, or their love of the man...

“Keep Trayvon’s family in our prayers. Deeply unsatisfying verdict,” Anthony Weiner tweeted.The city's mayoral candidates quickly weighed in on Trayvon Martin case Saturday night, with many taking to Twitter to denounce George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of the black Florida teenager. Democrat Bill Thompson, the only African-American in the mayoral race, tweeted, “Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black. There was no justice done today in Florida”(continued)

And so it begins: Sarah Palin suggested she would run for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska, and 72 hours later has fired the first volley against her potential opponent, one Sen. Mark Begich — a Democrat, former Anchorage mayor and spirited Palin-basher. He’s already questioned whether the former governor was even a resident of Alaska, then dismissed her as a viable candidate. Naturally, Mrs. Palin was charmed by the challenge, immediately deeming Mr. Begich the “Alaska chameleon” for his political track record. “You have voted for Obamacare, for massive tax increases, for carbon taxes which could cost Alaskans 21,000...

On Monday, conservative talk radio host Mark Levin said former officials in the George W. Bush administration attack Sarah Palin because they favor expanding government. "Sarah Palin has spoken out effectively, articulately, with great knowledge and confidence," Levin said, "about the destruction of this federal goliath." He then noted that when Palin speaks out against crony capitalism and the permanent political class, she comes under "personal, vicious, brutal attack," not just by Democrats but by Republicans as well. He said many of the Republicans who attack Palin worked in the Bush administration and disagree not only with her, but with...

A great interview with Governor Sarah Palin on a Tuesday afternoon. Sounding very much like George Washington, the rather reluctant leader, Governor Palin ends the interview with a bold statement about leading the party. Ronald Reagan was a democrat for most of his adult life. He famously said that he didn’t leave the democrat party, the democrat party left him. Governor Palin is saying what the rest of us are thinking. We’d MUCH rather revitalize the Republican Party than go in another direction, but …. and what else can be said but …. we haven’t left the GOP, the GOP...

Amazingly, THIS is supposed to be serious: Earlier this year, Jeb Bush told ABC that both his father George H.W. Bush, and brother George W. recommended he run for president in 2016. Mama Barbara Bush is not keen on the idea, declaring in April that “the nation’s probably had enough Bushes.” But in the constantly shifting equations of potential Republican hopefuls for future president and vice president, the former Florida governor’s name has been tied with another former governor: Sarah Palin. The pair have now been framed as a “the GOP’s only chance” in the race by American Thinker contributor...

So what is the main difference between the Huffington Post article, shared 2,300+ times, and our post, which elicits a ban? As near as I can tell, one is from a conservative website, and one is from a liberal website. One is pro-abortion, while the other one mocks the pro-abortion writer. Is there something more going on here with Facebook? We haven’t heard similar stories of censorship from the left side of the aisle. And yet, there seems to be an emerging trend for conservatives on Facebook. Fox News reporter Todd Starnes was recently banned from Facebook for what he...

Leftists often say that America "has no culture." This video proves that not only does America have culture, but the single greatest and most influencial culture the world has ever seen. It will make you proud to be an American. Pass it on.

Sen. Marco Rubio took to the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday afternoon, to address concerns that have arisen from some grassroots conservatives over his support of immigration reform. “I have received numerous emails and calls from conservatives and tea party activists,” he said at the beginning of his remarks. “To hear the worry, anxiety, and growing anger in the voices of so many people who helped me get elected to the Senate, who I agree with on virtually every other issue, has been a real trial for me,” he confessed. But he said he told them that he would...

Perhaps we should no longer be surprised when the former half-term Alaska governor jabs at GOP colleagues weighs in on public policy. And yet... It's easy and tiresome to trash Sarah Palin as an uneducated embarrassment to the Republican Party (a party of which I am a member). But when the great anti-intellectual takes ridiculously simple-minded shots at Marco Rubio for supporting immigration reform, something needs to be said. The Sunshine State News asked the former Alaska governor to comment on immigration reform. She took the opportunity to take a giant swing at Marco Rubio: Just like they did with...

Governor Palin posted the following on Twitter this evening: Sarah Palin ✔ @SarahPalinUSA Up next more out-of-touch POTUS policy to weaken USA. Speech tomorrow requires seeking truth in upcoming anti-Made in America energy mandate 11:21 PM - 24 Jun 2013 92 Retweets 35 favorites This was in response to the president’s upcoming speech at Georgetown University tomorrow, where he will announce more ways to destroy our economy. From the Associated Press: President Barack Obama’s national plan to combat climate change will include the first-ever regulations to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, as well as increased production of...

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio understood he was taking considerable risk by putting his name on the immigration reform bill currently being crafted by the so-called “Gang of Eight.” He expected to alienate some conservatives, but did he anticipate Sarah Palin to be among them? The former Republican governor of Alaska took to Twitter on Sunday to call Rubio out for his “flip-flop” on immigration reform. Sarah Palin ✔ @SarahPalinUSA Politicians wonder why we can't trust them? Campaign flip-flops like this and carve-out bribes in the Amnesty... http://fb.me/2IsL1uspC 11:30 AM - 23 Jun 2013 497 Retweets 143 favorites As noted by...

Since retiring from her position as Secretary of State under the Obama administration, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been out of the public spotlight. Yet most of the political world still wants to know if Clinton will run for President in 2016. I can’t answer that, but I can say if she did, she would win. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskil recently organized a potential 2016 Clinton presidential campaign. “Regardless of who you supported for president back then, we can all agree today that there is nobody better equipped to be our next president than Hillary Clinton,” said McCaskil. In addition, there...

Back in January and February, Marco Rubio stood at the top of the heap among prospective 2016 Republican presidential contenders. Sen. Marco Rubio Today? Not so much. In the recently released Ipsos – Reuters poll, for example, Rubio has lost one third of the support he had earlier this spring and is now not even in the top three in the latest poll Ipsos conducted for Reuters. Marco now registers below Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and Jeb Bush. Another poll in Iowa, a key early voting state in the Republican presidential sweepstakes (conducted by Illinois-based pollster McKeon &...

Two Republicans came to Washington as United States Senators. Both were immediately haled as being the future of the Party. Both were young, charismatic and claimed they were devoted to the conservative cause. Both have been talked about as potential Presidential candidates. The problem is, only one of them is a conservative. One is Ted Cruz and the other is Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz burst on to the scene last year in Texas, defeating a RINO Establishment candidate. He has quickly become a superstar. He has stood steadfastly against Amnesty. Yesterday, after the Supreme Court ruled that states could not...

Sarah Palin, now and always, has the instinct for grass roots; and as consummate strivers in our times see the presidency merely as a stepping stone to $100 million trips abroad and a globalist future with 50 gold watches like Bill Clinton’s, Palin slips in with the crowd to get down with the people. She's not at “Versailles” — as Tom Brokaw called the annual collection of strivers at The White House Correspondents' Association dinner of journalists, apologists, preachers, propagandists and pirates — just a little high school in the hills, where Palin gave a high school graduation speech. And...

Remember all the build-up around the Facebook IPO? Investors wondered when it would happen and how they could get in on it. People were scrambling to be part of the action. Then, it happened, and it flopped. Marco Rubio is fast turning into the Facebook IPO of the United States Senate. There was hype, there was hope, there was sizzle…but there’s been no steak. In his first year in the Senate, Marco Rubio did … what exactly? He was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2011, and didn’t even deliver his first Senate floor speech until June 14. Conversely, Rand Paul...

GOP Golden Boy Chris Christie is going to run in 2016, and he might not even do so as a Republican. Seriously. So, will he challenge the highly beatable Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination? Maybe. But all signs point to the whalelike New Jersey governor floating himself as a middleman, neither right nor left — the Chosen One to solve all the discord in the nation’s capital: The Independent. Sound insane? Well, the man who clearly can’t control his base impulses (he’s fat) doesn’t know where he fits into the 2016 scheme. (Get it? “Where he fits in”?)...

Every year, thousands of Republicans from all over the country spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars to attend conservative conferences, where they hear from popular party leaders, members of Congress and even celebrities on their issues, the state of the party and where it is headed. These include the popular Conservative Political Action Conference in the spring and the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference, held this weekend at the J.W. Marriott in Washington. Among the many conference goers are retirees, local tea party leaders and dozens of young conservatives, skinny bespectacled young men and well-dressed, high-heeled women...

Young people are more Democratic and pro-Obama – but they're even more pro-liberty. The GOP should seize this chance.You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that the Republican party has a problem with the millennial generation. Americans born after 1980 voted by some 25pt for President Obama over Mitt Romney, while the rest of the electorate narrowly supported the Republican candidate. It's my view that Republicans can do little to attract most Millennials – but privacy may be the exception. Our Guardian poll conducted by Public Policy Polling indicated that Democrats were more supportive of President Obama's...

Republican lawmakers say they anticipate a flood of questions in the coming months from constituents on the implementation of ObamaCare, which will pose a dilemma for the GOP. [WATCH VIDEO] People regularly call their representatives for help with Medicare, Social Security and other government programs. Yet, Republicans believe healthcare reform spells doom for the federal budget, private businesses and the U.S. healthcare system. They're also enormously frustrated that the law has persevered through two elections and a Supreme Court challenge and believe a botched implementation could help build momentum for the repeal movement. Some Republicans indicated to The Hill they...

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) was being debated, proponents were accused of saddling Americans with inferior and expensive health care while keeping generous coverage for themselves at taxpayer expense. To rebut that allegation and build confidence in the bill, a provision was added mandating that members of Congress – and their staff members – get there coverage through the new exchange system the bill set up. Now that the time to sign up for exchange coverage is nearing, a Democratic member, Rep. John Larson (D., Conn.), is saying that “this is simply not fair” – as...

Freshman Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has become an increasingly controversial figure in American politics as evidenced by comments MSNBC’s Chris Matthews made this week comparing Cruz to Nazi sympathizer Father Coughlin. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly laid into Matthews last night for equating his “black Irish” looks with Cruz’s and today Megyn Kelly picked up the thread by asking what it is about the senator that makes liberals so angry. Conservative radio host Mike Gallagher said people are only attacking Cruz because he’s “effective.” He said people are “impressed” with the “tea party darling” who “rose out of nowhere” and used this...

As a long time Senator from the border state of Arizona, John McCain knows all too well the immense negative ramifications that illegal immigration has had on his state. Still, today, as the Senate held discussions on the controversial ‘Gang of Eight’ immigration bill, one that both he and his fellow Arizona Senator Jeff Flake support and developed, McCain accidentally let the cat out of the bag. Though he meant to say “the rest of this legislation”, he clearly stated “path to citizenship” before realizing he revealed a truth that he meant to hide. Watch. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)

Megan McCardle, writing in The Daily Beast, wrote today in an article entitled 'No, Democrats Did Not Just Want to "Count All the Votes" in the 2000 Election': 'Ironically, I suspect that if Gore had simply unilaterally requested a statewide manual recount, or the Florida Supreme Court had forced one upon him, the United States Supreme Court would have probably stayed out of it. But they didn’t, and as they say, the rest is history.' And, it still wouldn’t have made any difference. For all of the rending of garments by Al Gore and the rest of the Left and...