Free Republic

<p>To my friend Kathleen Parker — This act is getting really old.</p> <p>As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.</p> <p>Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.</p> <p>I'm bathing in holy water as I type.</p>

Door, meet Hagel. That's how many Republicans are likely to react after retiring Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel blasted Republicans in general and Rush Limbaugh in particular, claiming Rush and fellow conservative talkers "don't have any answers." David Shuster, subbing for Olbermann on tonight's Countdown, highlighted Hagel's remarks of today. View video here. After rolling tape of two Republican senators looking on the bright side, Shuster quoted at length from Hagel, whose name had been bandied about as a possible Obama VP pick. SHUSTER: Not all of the GOP is so sunny about their party. Retiring Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska...

In a span of 252 days, the National Review lost two Buckleys — one to death, another to resignation — and an election. Now, thanks to the coarsening effect of the Internet on political discourse, the magazine may have lost something else: its reputation as the cradle for conservative intellectuals and home for erudite and well-mannered debate prized by its founder, the late William F. Buckley Jr. In the general conservative blogosphere and in The Corner, National Review’s popular blog, the tenor of debate — particularly as it related to the fitness of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska to be...

George Will September 23: "Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either. "It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness...

Karl Rove offered comforting words to grieving Republicans in an article published Thursday: “History will favor Republicans in 2010. Since World War II, the out-party has gained an average of 23 seats in the U.S. House and two in the U.S. Senate in a new president’s first mid-term election. Other than FDR and George W. Bush, no president has gained seats in his first mid-term election in both chambers.” Conservatives can only hope so. Early indications, however, point ominously the other way. Like the economy, the Republican party will most likely get sicker before it gets better. There are at...

A reader writes: I love to see you grapple with trying to explain this woman and her thought processes. You are Tcs2 missing something obvious though. She believes in the literal truth of the Bible. She believes it informs on matters of science, biology, evolution, physics, cosmology, etc. So if there are multiple creation versions in the Bible what do you do, make up your own reality. If there are contradictions in it, ignore them. Just like you ignore inconvenient facts about day-to-day life. If you BELIEVE the bible is the literal inerrant word of God what do you do?...

In a Presidential contest replete with novelties, none was more significant than this: A candidate’s campaign—for his party’s nomination, then for the presidency-was itself virtually the entire validation of his candidacy. Voters have endorsed Barack Obama’s audacious—but not, they have said, presumptuous—proposition, which was: The skill, tenacity, strategic vision and tactical nimbleness of my campaign is proof that he's presidential timber. Because imitation is the sincerest form of politics, the 2008 campaign will not be the last in which such a proposition is asserted. Obama’s achievement represents the final repudiation of the Founders’ intentions regarding the selection, and hence the...

Head Strong: Ignoring suburbs doomed the GOP To win Pa., it must appeal to moderates. By Michael Smerconish - Inquirer Inquirer Currents Columnist If retail politicking alone determined the election outcome in Pennsylvania, McCain-Palin would have won in a landslide. Speaking on MSNBC election night, Gov. Rendell joked that the GOP ticket had spent so much time in the state that he was thinking of assessing them with a state income tax.

Today, Red State ran an article on the origination of nasty lies from within the McCain/Palin camp. They report, Romney staffers now working on the McPalin campaign have been spreading the stories of Palin’s “ineptitude” to the press. Red State and other reporters accuse Romney staffers, including Kevin Madden (former Romney press-man) of pushing reporters into “Troopergate” stories and other possible negative Palin story angles. Palin provides a threat to Romney for a presidential run, but now is not the time for in-party fighting. American Girl has been very critical of long-time Romney supporter Kathleen Parker (see here and here),...

Of course, as John Paul II taught in Veritatis Splendor, no democracy should set itself against the truth of the human person. When John McCain proclaimed himself to be “pro-life,” many thought we would hear from him a call for some effort to bring the Constitution in line with the protection of life. Ronald Reagan was a champion of this idea though he did not succeed in achieving it. The Reagan amendment would have included the unborn in the constitutional definition of “person” and it had the benefit of simplicity. Yet, given again the related criminal liability for mother and...

don't know how much kool-aid they drank this morning....... Election Night Predictions November 02, 2008 9:36 AM This morning on our This Week Roundtable we made our predictions for Tuesday night's outcome: Mark Halperin, Time Magazine: Electoral Vote -- 349 Obama Senate -- 58 Democratic seats House -- Democrats net 28 House seats Matthew Dowd, former Republican strategist: Electoral Vote -- 338 plus Obama Senate -- 8 plus pick ups for Democrats House -- 17 plus pick ups for Democrats George Will, ABC News contributor: Electoral Vote -- 378 Obama Senate -- 8 pick ups for the Democrats House --...

Washington DC, Nov 2, 2008 / 04:02 am (CNA).- Doug Kmiec, Pepperdine University law professor and adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, has said in an interview that Obama?s models for Supreme Court nominees are Justices Stephen Breyer and David Souter.

WASHINGTON -- By midnight Tuesday, millions of conservatives probably will believe that the nation, foundering on the reefs of sin, is ruined. And millions of "progressives," emboldened to embrace truth in labeling by again calling themselves liberals, probably will have decided that Heaven is at hand, the nation revived like a flower in an April shower. In any case, political numeracy can illuminate the hours before midnight. So as Tuesday's numbers accumulate, here are some benchmarks to bear in mind: The House of Representatives currently has 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans; the Senate has 51 Democrats (including two independents who...

The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes: He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief. He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections. Obama and the Runaway Train The race, the case, a hope for grace. He rose...

It looks like there might be some truth to those rumors former Mitt Romney supporters are already trying to clear Sarah Palin from the GOP presidential deck to make room for their man Mitt in 2012. Former Romney Spokesman Kevin Madden was particularly harsh on Palin in an interview on CNN. His criticism of Palin is especially noteworthy because we're only days from the election. In a spot with Campbell Brown Madden said Palin's wardrobe flap showed how "unseasoned" Palin is. BROWN: And, Kevin, even defending this whole controversy over the clothes, the RNC buying all the clothing, it keeps...