Free Republic

alk about campaign trail déjà vu. As hundreds of bundled-up supporters gathered around him on a freezing January day, Rick Santorum towered over a lectern and rallied his troops. Aides pecking at smartphones lined the perimeter of the hotel conference room. An army of young children scurried across the floor. Volunteers collected email addresses and phone numbers at a fold-up table near the door. The people, the “candidate” — even the weather — gave the event a presidential primary campaign feel. But this scene played out in the Capitol Hill Hyatt in Washington, not a Sheraton in West Des Moines...

Part of the progressive agenda is to create hate and envy. One component of that agenda is to attack the large differences between a corporation's chief executive officer's earnings and those of its average worker. CNNMoney published salary comparisons in "Fortune 50 CEO pay vs. our salaries." Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf's annual salary is $2.8 million. CNN shows that it takes 66 Wells Fargo employees, whose average salary is $42,400, to match Stumpf's salary. It takes 57 Wal-Mart employees, who earn $22,100 on average, to match CEO Michael Duke's $1.3 million. At General Electric, 44 employees earning $75,300 a...

WASHINGTON — Worse than Richard Nixon. An unprecedented abuse of powers. The most un-American president in the nation’s history. Nat Hentoff does not think much of President Obama. And now, the famous journalist says it is time to begin looking into impeachment. Hentoff sees the biggest problem as Obama’s penchant to rule by executive order when he can’t convince Congress to do things his way. The issue jumped back into the headlines last week when, just before his first Cabinet meeting of 2014, Obama said, “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone … and I can use that...

A prosecutor who was sacked after attempting to indict Chris Christie's political cronies for corruption told MailOnline today about his ordeal at the hands of the New Jersey Governor's 'mafia.' Bennett Barlyn, a prosecutor for 18 years in New Jersey’s Hunterdon County, has spoken out following the revelations over the Bridgegate scandal to reveal his firsthand account of being fired and shamed at the hands of Christie and his political henchmen. He said there were parallels between a criminal case he tried to prosecute – before, he says, it was unlawfully dismissed – and the Bridgegate scandal, where Christie’s staff...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie just endured the worst week of his five years in elected office, battered by a scandal involving traffic jams as political payback and implicating several top — and now former — aides. And yet, Christie still holds down the top spot in our rankings of the 2016 Republican field — a sign of both the considerable strengths he retains in the race and the lack of an obvious challenger to his dominance. Make no mistake: Bridge-gate has hurt Christie and slowed, badly, the considerable momentum he built during a sweeping reelection victory in 2013. But,...

<p>HONOLULU (AP) - On these sun-bathed shores, Barack Obama was born and spent his formative years, soaking in an island sensibility that his wife and friends say is indispensable to understanding who he is as president. Yet in the search for a home for his future presidential library, Hawaii has become the underdog, stuck in Chicago's perpetual shadow.</p>

This week I attended the lecture [1] by Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin at the American Enterprise Institute. (You can watch the video here [2]. ) After he was through, a discussion [3] was held by National Review political journalist Robert Costa and Weekly Standard reporter Steve Hayes; it was moderated by WalkerÂ’s co-author, Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen.The mainstream media has practically anointed Gov. Chris Christie the GOP frontrunner for the most likely candidate to win a national election in 2016. Christie was featured on the cover of Time, and appeared on virtually every TV Sunday talk show following...

On that fateful day 50 years ago in Dallas, the future of the United States was thought to be at stake. Heightened security measures surrounded a newly sworn-in president, who was whisked from Texas aboard Air Force One, shadowed by Secret Service agents and the widow of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. In the ensuing weeks, the Warren Commission was established and a sullied Secret Service pondered how to better protect the 36th president of the United States while still allowing him the mobility to leave the White House. Transporting the president would never be the same. According to experts in presidential...

Derelict: ('derəˌlikt/) neglectful of duty, delinquent; a person guilty of neglect of duty; a bum. SYNONYM-see Obama, Barack. A thought experiment can be useful to explain why America is in a mess. Let's take Barack Obama at his word -- a stretch certainly for anyone who would lie about his own mother's death to score partisan points will lie about...well, anything. But let's put the most positive spin on what President Obama has been conveying to his fellow Americans. One can try to be optimistic even in these perilous times -- it is one of the great traits of being...

Anyone who needs further proof that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had best stay away from a presidential run will find it in the double-whammy aimed at him yesterday. First, an NBC poll shows that in a head-to-head match-up with presumed Democrat 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton, Christie trails by ten points. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could face a strong challenge not only from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if he seeks the presidency in 2016 but also from his own party, a new NBC News poll reveals. The survey of 1,003 adults released Tuesday, shows Clinton with 44...

After the wreath-laying, Obama walked up the stairs into the memorial building, and heard (what appeared to be HIS voice) "JEESUS!". I had to play it back a few times and was appalled. Anyone else make that observation?

President Barack Obama challenged the GOP to end political brinkmanship and said Republicans should "win an election" if they so badly wish to change his policies.

I am an unrepentent Luddite, operating Mac0S9 in a Windows world. On Friday night I suffered the mother of all computer crashes....sent an email and just as it transmitted the background browser/email program crashed and the word processing program froze. Usually a forced reset cures all, but not this time. Nor did a "hard reset" by spiking the power. Each time reboot attempt resulted in a flashing icon indicating an unreadable hard drive. Hours and many dollar later the failing hard drive which had caused the freezes and crashes was replaced, and, most importantly, almost all the data was recovered...

HALLOWEEN: Is this Barack Obama vampire card offensive? While shopping for Halloween cards at Target in San Bernardino, JoAnn Nelson was appalled when her 5-year-old granddaughter showed her this card. Nelson said she finds the card tasteless and offensive. ”I was disturbed and did not want my grandbaby to see this,” she wrote in an email.

40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan aims a rifle from a window onboard Air Force One; circa 1983

You better at least get ready. There’s a buzz being fed. Warren gave a speech to the AFL-CIO today, and the “draft Warren” talk is starting. Elizabeth Warren is totally wowing @AFLCIO convention, Wonder if she'll enter the race if Hillary, for some reason, doesn't run. #AFLCIO13— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) September 8, 2013 @greenhousenyt Outstanding speech. I would not be surprised at all if Draft Warren groups sprung up in Iowa, New Hampshire. — Mike Conrad (@mikeconrad1) September 8, 2013 @greenhousenyt @AFLCIO DEAR GOD YES, PLEASE, YES, OMG, THAT'S WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN #DRAFTSENWARREN (sorry for the caps!) — Organize...

Will Sarah Palin run for Senate in 2014 or for President in 2016? Reading the Mark Leibovich book "This Town" reminds me why I don't want Palin in that town as a one of a hundred senators. I want her running that town. Contrary to what the well fed right and Bill Kristol say, Sarah Palin doesn't need to rehabilitate her image. Yes, the GOP does need rehab, but has it hit rock bottom? I don't think it has. When it does, I don't want Sarah Palin running the intervention from the Senate. Dealing with overly confident and cocky Ted...

Confident Biden Team Sows Seeds For 2016 Backers Consider Steps for White House—Even If Hillary Clinton Enters Race By PETER NICHOLAS, CAROL E. LEE and COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON CONNECT Political allies of Vice President Joe Biden have concluded that he can win the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination—even if Hillary Clinton enters the contest—and are considering steps he could take to prepare for a potential candidacy. While Mr. Biden has made no decision about his future, people familiar with his thinking say, he hasn't ruled out a bid for the White House. If he runs, that could set up a titanic...