Free Republic

"I think he’s struggling to translate that to policy."

An interesting thing happened on the way to the congressional election in New York's 23rd district. The Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out of the race. This bodes well for the Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, who, as it turns out happens to be a Republican who ran on a third party ticket against Scozzafava and the Democrat Bill Owens. This is a fascinating race to watch, because it forces those in the Republican Party to take a hard look at what has become of the GOP. In the last few weeks, there has been a huge rift within the...

I was almost overcome by government insanity overload the other evening and writing this was the cure . . . In 2010 we have to turn the House around big time and get the Senate going that way to. I don't want to ever vote for another politician. I only want to vote for people who know, value and act on the principles that created our great country and are selfless enough to help this country get on track by serving up to two terms. Cut the federal government to 1/3 its present size. Stoke the engines of wealth creation...

If you've spent any time at all on Internet message boards or in college debate class you'll have seen the rafters vibrate with righteous condemnation against the "slippery slope argument." It is claimed that a worst case, ultimate extrapolation of a thing is a bad argument because it isn't necessarily a truism. Supporters of the Second Amendment, for instance, are scolded by liberals when the supporter says that any new gun law is "one more step to banning guns." The gun restricter says that the gun supporter is employing a "slippery slope" argument and that it is idiotic to claim...

This week the 1,600 or so members of Harvard's Class of 2009 will leave campus with a coveted Ivy degree. Of this number, seven will leave with something else: the gold bars of a second lieutenant. At a time when institutions from our banks and auto makers to our churches and public schools seem to have trouble honoring their most basic promises, these young officers enter a life where words have meaning, meaning has consequences, and those consequences can include a flag-draped coffin. Tomorrow on Harvard Yard, Gen. David Petraeus will address these young men and women -- four Army,...

Based upon our observations of American soldiers and their officers captured in this war, the following facts are evidenced," a foreign intelligence officer wrote. "There is little knowledge or understanding, even among United States university graduates, of American political history and philosophy ... of safeguards to freedom; and of how these things supposedly operate within their own system." Believe it or not, those words weren't written by an al Qaeda operative. They were written during the Korean War (1950-53) by the chief intelligence officer of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in North Korea. In a 1957 response to those remarks,...

With all the free advice flowing to the Republican Party from the main stream media, Democrats and liberals posing as Republicans, you have to wonder what possible interest these people have in maintaining an opposition party, until you realize that is not their goal. Their goal is to eliminate all opposition by denying Conservatives any voice in a major political party. The Republican Party they foresee is no different in core values than the Democrat Socialists but only disagrees on methods. This creates an illusion of opposition that permits true opposition to be marginalized and ignored. A number of Republicans...

The goal must be to challenge liberal premises. Liberal premises necessarily lead to liberal policies. ----snip---- These are softballs lobbed up to the plate that should be swung at with Ruthian clouts and smacked out of the park with ease. Dispute the liberal premise, offer the conservative alternative and let the listener complete the logic for himself. ----snip---- But there are three pre-requisites for all the above: Belief, patience and courage. Belief, in that far too many GOP higher-ups don't really believe in conservatism. One only diligently goes to the mat for that which one truly and fully believes in...

I started thinking several months ago about possible ways to get the party of Lincoln and Reagan back on track. Following the 1994 Contract with America, there was a period of time when the representatives were directly serving the will of the people. We unified under an agreement about specific reforms we all agreed were needed. They promised to act on them, and they did for the most part. We promised to elect them, and we did. We need to bring about the same kind of unity within the Republican Party (based on a conservative foundation) and with like-minded citizens...

I have felt like conservatives need a set of rules to counter the "Rules for Radicals" written by Saul Alinsky. This is my first draft. Comments and ideas are solicited.

Glenn Beck warns about falling for 'Wizard of Oz lie' Talk show dynamo Glenn Beck is warning Americans not to fall for the "Wizard of Oz lie" – the one that says just because a big government voice is large and intimidating it is right. Remember that "once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak," he writes on his website promoting Friday's "We Surround Them" special program. It airs at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Fox News Channel. But is there hope yet for...

Don't Hold It Against Conservatives Who Voted Against McCain March 10, 2009 RUSH: I want to answer one question that was asked of me by Susan from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, about conservatives who voted for McCain, and I want to say up front here that this explanation that you are about to hear is one of these that will be ripe for taking out of context by my friends on the right to once again smear my meaning. Here goes. I said just before the previous hour concluded, I don't hold it against any conservative who voted against McCain....

Looking back on his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush pinpointed incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as "biggest regret of all the presidency." President sits down with ABC's Charles Gibson for an exit interview."I think I was unprepared for war," Bush told ABC News' Charlie Gibson in an interview airing today on "World News." Despite failed intelligence and accusations of mismanaging the war, Bush said his decision not to prematurely . . .

The aftermath of the 2008 General Election has evoked both soul-searching and recrimination in an attempt to understand its result. The former is useful, that is, to reflect on what has and has not worked for both the party and the conservative movement in general. The latter is useless, as all it serves to do is delay our recovery.In this election, we spent a considerable amount of time exploring unanswered questions about, and the limitations of, the opposition candidate. Given the failure of the media to fulfill its duty to the nation, that's completely appropriate. I'm not a conspiracy theorist,...

All of the frenzied recriminations and strategizing you are seeing are for naught. Before the conservative movement can even think about regaining political power, it must reform itself. Not by abandoning conservatism, but by reestablishing its principles.What is it we as conservatives believe? Until we can answer that question clearly and convincingly, we will largely be on the sidelines.We need not try to find candidates for the next electoral cycle at this time, because we have to discuss our principles first, and come to an agreement on them that the various factions within conservatism can agree on. If I were...

    'National Review' Allows Diverse Opinions, Former Staffer Says By S. T. Karnick (http://stkarnick.com)       A former associate editor of National Review magazine says Christopher Buckley's departure from his back-page column was not a firing, and the magazine embraces diverse viewpoints within conservatism. But that's the real problem with the contemporary right: it lacks a set of coherent principles.   Recently a well-publicized conflict at National Review magazine created a stir on the right and much schadenfreude on the left. Christopher Buckley, the son of the magazine's late founder-editor and a highly respected writer himself, announced...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush, who will host a global summit on the financial crisis next month, said on Saturday that agreeing on common principles to reform regulators would be essential to preventing another disaster. His comments came one day after a worldwide sell-off in stock markets amid growing fears of a global recession. Friday's session was the lowest closing level for all three major U.S. stock indexes since the spring of 2003. "In recent weeks, concerns about the availability of credit, the safety of financial assets, and the volatility of the stock market have made many families...

Once upon a time, there was a country called the United States of America. This fairy tale land was founded by giants. But these giants were unlike those mean giants who grind men’s bones to make their bread. These giants respected all men’s bones, no matter how very small they were. In fact, these giants went to war against a wicked King who lived across an ocean, a King who was stealing the money of the little men to pay for things he wanted. When the good giants won the war, the little men were so grateful that they offered...

"When you call the Iraq War a mistake, you disrespect the service and the sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom". I haven't seen this posted on FR before, but even if it has been, it is such a powerful and moving message it's worth re-posting. It will bring tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat, guaranteed.

Every once in a while, there is a news story that so perfectly illustrates one of today's political absurdities, no made-up illustration could ever be so effective. According to Michael Graham's article, "Bank unduly scapegoated": "activists for the newest civil right - the right to skip your mortgage payments - have taken to the streets of Roxbury." The protest is over the fact that a bank that loaned a certain Paula Taylor, $260,000 to buy a condo, now, "actually want her to pay it back!" If you think this is absurd, the politicians are on the side of Paula Taylor...

What Is Modern Conservatism? Part 1: A Comparison There's been a lot of talk recently about the conservative movement being "adrift." People asking where the movement "goes from here" and so forth.Blather. Conservatism is just fine. Conservatives may feel a bit unmoored lately. The GOP may have strayed from conservative principles in recent years. But the principles themselves are the same as they've always been. The same can be said of the left. Their principles remain the same too, and the contrast between our two ideologies is quite stark indeed. To wit: Never forget what you stand for. Never forget...

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., has reluctantly come to the conclusion that he will have to vote for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whose immigration reform bill Tancredo blasted as amnesty. "Sometimes I say to myself, 'Can I really do this?'" Tancredo said of voting for McCain, according to the Rocky Mountain News. "And then you listen to Obama or Hillary and say, 'Yeah, I have to.'" At a debate last October Tancredo sounded less sure of such an idea. "You know, I've said I don't know how many times, that I am absolutely tired and sick and tired of being forced...

Many in the great state of Texas have a lot to say about a proposed network of toll roads and railway lines known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. The Texas Department of Transportation received more than 27,000 public comments during a three-month comment period on a proposed corridor project called the TTC-69, said TxDOT spokesman Mark Cross. Transportation officials had 47 public hearings in February and March and accepted written comments through April 18 on the environmental and social impact of the corridor. Comments ranged from flat-out opposition to the corridor to suggestions about how to lessen its impact, Cross told...

State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst said it’s time for Texas transportation officials to talk about real reforms to address the public outrage over the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor. The Brenham Republican’s reaction followed Thursday’s actions taken by the Texas Transportation Commission. The panel adopted a set of guiding principals and policies which will govern the development, construction and operation of all toll road projects on the state highway system and the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor. Bob Colwell, Texas Department of Transportation public information officer for the Bryan district, said the adoption of the guidelines does not reflect the final approval of Interstate 69...

PHOENIX - Republican John McCain, reaching out to both independents and green-minded social conservatives, argues that global warming is undeniable and the country must take steps to bring it under control while adhering to free-market principles. In remarks prepared for delivery Monday at a Portland, Ore., wind turbine manufacturer, the presidential contender says expanded nuclear power must be considered to reduce carbon-fuel emissions. He also sets a goal that by 2050, the country will reduce carbon emissions to a level 60 percent below that emitted in 1990. "For all of the last century, the profit motive basically led in one...

With Joe Scarborough away, the cats did play during the opening segment of today's Morning Joe . . . WILLIE GEIST [facetiously]: David, I know how you like to speak for Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of that group. MIKA BRZEZINSKI: He's going to the [CPAC] convention. GEIST: You're the voice of that community, but can you make sense out of this? Are they willing, the conservatives, the Limbaughs, the Hannitys of the world, to concede the election, to not have John McCain be president, to take Hillary Clinton over them, just to take a principled stand? View...

Principles used to mean something in this Country. One of the reasons our Country is in the mess it's in, is because we've lost our way, and abandoned our principles. What lessons do we teach our Children, our Families, our friends, and our peers, if we, so easily, abandon what's important, and what has made us this great Country, and what the Founders fought for. Did they not teach us that principles are worth every human effort possible? Did they not set out before us a Document that, in great explication, perfects our Principles? FRed Thompson called his campaign the...

The lay of the political presidential landscape is looking pretty strange these days. One prominent Republican candidate is essentially advocating that too much drive is a bad thing, so vote for him! Others have incredible drive, but would use it to take the country down questionable paths of populism or personal ambition. Some of the candidates possess excellent leadership skills, but would lead us down dark paths of dependency upon government or paths of social experimentation. You might say: I know who is for the Status Quo, for they have no fire in the belly; but why is that a...

The author posits these as the necessary 6 conservative principles: A preference for limited government A desire to means-test or otherwise target government benefits A concern about the behavioral consequences of assistance. Conservatives believe that no-strings-attached assistance has often been a catastrophe -- creating even more dependency and a fertile ground for social problems A deference to mediating institutions. Everyone seems eager to harness family, church and other voluntary associations Respect for private choice, often in the form of markets. Humility bred from disappointing experiences -- and the likelihood of unintended consequences. ...When a problem seems bad enough, people often...

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Sunday "the political pendulum is swinging" against his party, and Republicans needs to work harder to win over independent voters. "Everybody knows what's at stake next year, but I wonder if we've come to terms with the difficulty we've got as Republicans, and the fact that we're going to have to do a lot of things very well to prevail," the former Tennessee senator said. What the Republican Party needs, Thompson said, is to nominate a candidate like himself who can "go before the American people and ask for the vote...

Our government, we're been told, is one of laws, not of men. Yet, our politics have fast become a politics devoid of ideas and focusing instead on personalities. Patrick Ruffini, writing on Hugh Hewitt's blog, recently declared, "policy is boring and politics is interesting." A journalist told me something similar a while back. And heretofore the campaign coverage has aligned with that fact. The truth is, we've had a campaign of irrelevancy with red herring being the fish of the day. We've talked about John Edwards' haircut, Hillary Clinton's cleavage, what some Huckabee supporter said about Catholicism, and the smack...

Every so often I hear from a self-anointed right-wing commissar that I’m not really a conservative simply because he’s disagreed with something I wrote. The most annoying aspect of being called on the carpet is that it serves to remind me that some of those on the right can be every bit as dogmatic and self-righteous as the pinheads on the left. So, I will now list my core beliefs and you can all decide for yourselves whether when I claim to be a conservative, I’m guilty of misrepresentation. For openers, I’m in favor of capital punishment. The sixth commandment,...

When one can walk down the streets of any major US city and see illegal invaders marching under a Mexican flag with signs written in Spanish that attack, insult and incite sovereign American citizens who simply want secure organized legal immigration for their country, people with no right to be here at all demanding their alleged "American" right not only to remain here, but to redesign America too, one must ask what kind of American they intend to be? But the problem doesn’t begin here. This is just a visible symptom of a much bigger problem in 21st Century America....

The majority of threads created, the majority of posts written... From the knee-jerk and oft-times erroneous reports regarding illegal Immigration and the Politics behind it...to the divisions drawn up as a result of have so many phony hack politicians thinking that they can become a President...to the Terry Chiavo case...to Libertarians posing as Conservatives down to the moronic slander railed against President Bush... I can only conclude that the so called Conservatives here at Free Republic have gotten off track. Do all of us [Conservatives] have valid opinions? Of course. Do all of us [Conservatives] have legitimate concerns? Of course....

As a very political year approaches an end, and a new presidential election cycle looms, it’s a good time for conservatives to step back from partisan politics and reflect on their cause. What do conservatives believe? Here are 10 principles worth pondering. 1. God’s Law Governs Nations as Well as Men. The Ten Commandments should not only be enshrined in our courthouses, they should be engraved in our hearts and minds as guides to all behavior, public and private. As the Founders acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence, laws and policies that violate the natural law are abuses of government...

People should not be so cavalier about this last loss and how there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats.

[Final two pharagraphs] So in the nature of things conservatives and libertarians can conclude no friendly pact. Conservatives have no intention of compromising with socialists; but even such an alliance, ridiculous though it would be, is more nearly conceivable than the coalition of conservatives and libertarians. The socialists at least declare the existence of some sort of moral order; the libertarians are quite bottomless. It is of high importance, indeed, that American conservatives dissociate themselves altogether from the little sour remnant called libertarians. In a time requiring long views and self-denial, alliance with a faction founded upon doctrinaire selfishness would...

Some day a great biography will be written about Arnold Schwarzenegger, a born-again American who proved able to remake himself in whatever ways proved necessary to succeed. Properly explored, however, there may be pathos in Mr. Schwarzenegger's story, as well as triumph. Because it begins to appear the story of the current governor of California -- or should that be "Kauli-fornia"? -- helps crystallize the story of the one place in the world where that success story was possible: America. Most of the story is well-known. With little else to work with, Mr. Schwarzenegger made his own body the tool...

In a word, yes! Living in America (legally or illegally) does not make one an American. Accepting, adopting, understanding, believing in, living, promoting and defending real American foundational principles, (the American dream), makes one an American. Nothing less will do. One who works to stop others from smoking can’t be called anything short of anti-smoking. One who works to stop others from owning guns would certainly and appropriately be deemed anti-gun rights, or anti-Second Amendment. If you work to stop abortions, you are certainly anti-abortion and if you work to undermine fundamental American principles, you are obviously anti-American. Does this...

Why does the president call the secretary of state "Condi"? And what exactly is his philosophy? Thursday, July 27, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT Why does President Bush refer in public to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as "Condi"? Did Dwight Eisenhower call his Secretary of State "Johnny"? Did Jimmy Carter call his "Eddie," or Bill Clinton call his "Maddy," or Richard Nixon call his "Willie" or "Hank"? What are the implications of such informality? I know it is small, but in a way such things are never small. To me it seems a part of the rhetorical childishness of the...

What are the key principles that explain Mankind, Society and the Universe best? If you were to give a few general principles, easily stated, what would they be? I have been thinking of how to explain things simply to the next generation, ie my kids, and I have just been reading Bastiat's "The Law", a book that has clear and cogent thinking about how Government ought to work. Bastiat explained that Governments overstepped their bounds when they engaged in 'legalized plunder' which all forms of protectionism and socialism fall prey to, and that all errors in Governance flow from violation...

WASHINGTON - Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin acknowledged Tuesday the dominant Internet company has compromised its principles by accommodating Chinese censorship demands. He said Google is wrestling to make the deal work before deciding whether to reverse course. Meeting with reporters near Capitol Hill, Brin said Google had agreed to the censorship demands only after Chinese authorities blocked its service in that country. Google's rivals accommodated the same demands — which Brin described as "a set of rules that we weren't comfortable with" — without international criticism, he said. "We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles but provide...

President George W. Bush's poll numbers -- even among Republicans who are hapy about tax cuts and the judicial appointments -- scream trouble. Trace the dismal numbers to three things -- the war in Iraq, spending, and Bush's perceived soft stance on illegal aliens. Let's go over them. As to the war in Iraq, the Bush administration argues that mainstream media ignores good news and focuses on the bad. General Barry McCaffrey, who worked as a division commander in the first Persian Gulf War before becoming President Clinton's drug czar, recently returned from Iraq. McCaffrey reported his findings in a...

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2006 – Nobody likes war and every U.S. conflict since the Revolutionary War has had its critics, but some things are worth fighting for, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today on the "Rush Limbaugh Show." "There have always been people who have opposed wars. Wars are terrible things," the secretary said on the syndicated radio program. But if the United States had bowed throughout its history to critics and opponents of war, he said the country wouldn't exist as it does today. "We wouldn't have won the Revolutionary War and we wouldn't have been involved in World...

So the Democrat leaders in the California Legislature, Fabian Nunez and Don Perata, want the governor to put pressure on Assembly Republicans to support their version of an infrastructure bond package. "He is the leader of the Republicans," Núñez said of Schwarzenegger. "One would think the governor has the responsibility of getting the Republicans on board to support whatever views he negotiates with the Legislature." As usual, the speaker fails to grasp the fundamentals of representative democracy. California Civics Lesson Number 1: The two-thirds vote in each house for state-wide bond measures is there for a reason. This is long-term...

SACRAMENTO -- He may be assured of his party's nomination for re-election, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will find out next weekend how much he really has to do to win back the hearts and minds of the party's faithful. The California Republican Party's convention in San Jose presents a key opportunity for Schwarzenegger to quell a simmering revolt from angry conservatives who feel he has drifted too far to the middle since his special-election defeat in November. Conservatives are frustrated by several recent moves, including the hiring of Democrat Susan Kennedy as his chief of staff, his support for a...

The only thing that was surprising about Google's decision to self-censor its China-based service was that people were surprised by it. In the general media coverage, there were many gleeful references to the company's motto - boasted of in the preface to its IPO prospectus - of 'Don't Be Evil' (a phrase which, at the time, caused Wall Street investment bankers to lie down in darkened rooms). How could people who wore those admirable values on their sleeves kowtow to a corrupt, authoritarian regime which tortures dissenters and denies elementary human rights to its unfortunate subjects?

Arnold Schwarzenegger's selection of archliberal Susan Kennedy, a former Cabinet secretary to Gray Davis, as his new chief of staff "is the last straw for a lot of grassroots California Republicans," says California Republican Assembly president Mike Spence to TAS. Spence describes the appointment as the equivalent of "George Bush appointing Howard Dean to be his chief of staff." Even the jaw of George Skelton (the Los Angeles Times columnist who has spent much of his career telling the California GOP to move left) dropped after the appointment of Kennedy, who is one of the state's leading abortion proponents, a...

Before he became president, George Bush was asked by journalist Tucker Carlson, what activity don't you excel at? He responded, "Sitting down and reading a 500-page book on public policy or philosophy or something." Like his father, Bush suffers from an unwillingness to engage conservative political philosophy seriously. While his political attenae is keener than his father's and he has more access to common sense than his father on certain issues, he, too, stumbles on the "vision thing" and struggles to stake out philosophically rigorous positions. The media are quick to note Bush's laziness of thought, but they are reluctant,...

Over the weekend, I received several emails from readers warning me that I might lose my job over the article I wrote criticizing my university’s new harassment policy. Readers who sometimes suggest that I should learn to hold my tongue fail to understand my simple philosophy of life. It is an uncompromising philosophy that guarantees both peace of mind and success in any important endeavor. It can be roughly summarized as follows: 1. If you want to be happy and successful, you must immediately disabuse yourself of the notion that there is no such thing as good and evil. If,...