Free Republic

The White House called about 45 minutes before the President on national television announced his choice for the Supreme Court. We had heard the week before that Harriet Miers was one of three people under serious consideration. The problem was no one knew much about her. We subsequently were told that she attended an Evangelical Church in Dallas, which had strong views on social issues. Still, as I told the White House, the nomination comes down to "trust me" from the President. I explained that I had witnessed five trust-me pleas regarding Presidential nominees for the Supreme Court and none...

Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), one of few non-lawyers to have served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. is “six times” smarter than the average member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who would vote on the nomination of Judge Roberts for Chief Justice. Grassley hardly overstated Judge Robert’s qualifications. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) admitted to Fox News Television Host Bill O’Reilly that he might vote for Judge Roberts (although he probably will not). For three days Roberts faced the Senate Judiciary Committee without notes, answering questions about memoranda he had written while a...

Senator Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, one of few non-lawyers to have served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Judge John G. Roberts Jr. is "six times" smarter than the average member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who would vote on the nomination of Judge Roberts for chief justice. Grassley hardly overstated Judge Robert's qualifications. Senator Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., admitted to Fox News Television Host Bill O'Reilly that he might vote for Judge Roberts (although he probably will not). For three days Roberts faced the Senate Judiciary Committee without notes, answering questions about memoranda he had written while a...

I would like to thank the Freepers for their prayer because I just corresponded with Paul Weyrich, and he says he is healing from his amputative surgery very well. He attributes it to everyone's prayers.

The Next Conservatism: The Danger of the Ideological State By Paul M. Weyrich August 16, 2005 If there is one clear lesson from the 20th century, it is that all ideologies are dangerous. As Russell Kirk wrote, conservatism is not an ideology, it is the negation of ideology. Conservatism values what has grown up over time, over many generations, in the form of traditions, customs and habits. Ideology, in contrast, says that on the basis of such-and-such a philosophy, certain things must be true. When reality contradicts that deduction, reality must be suppressed. And when an ideology takes over a...

Please feel free to discuss As special assistant to the attorney general in the Reagan administration, John G. Roberts Jr. urged the Justice Department to keep its distance from an eager and demanding "new right," even characterizing one of the giants of the conservative movement as "no friend of ours." Judge Roberts, then a special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith, wrote several memos in 1981 and 1982 giving advice to his boss on handling pressure from conservative groups elated by ideological soul mate Ronald Reagan's winning the White House. An examination by The Washington Times of documents from...

The following exchange took place at a meeting I attended before the Congressional recess began last month. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO): "I am reasonably optimistic that we will be able to pass both the Transportation and Energy Conference Reports before we go out." Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James M. (Jim) Inhofe (R-OK): "I am not as optimistic as my friend Roy. I think the Democrats may try to prevent these bills from passing so they can go home and claim we are a do-nothing Congress." Fortunately for the country Blunt was right. But I'll tell...

Paul Weyrich to undergo amputationLongtime conservative activist requests prayer this week Paul Weyrich, longtime conservative activist and chairman/CEO of the Free Congress Foundation, is scheduled to have his legs amputated this week. Weyrich, who is also co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, suffered a spinal injury in 1996 and has been bound to a wheelchair since 2001. A commentator in print and in the media, Weyrich reportedly has asked that supporters pray for him today and Thursday as he undergoes surgery at a Washington area hospital. Besides being a leader of the conservative movement, Weyrich is a major advocate for mass...

While growing up I was a proud member of an organization that emphasized the importance of honesty and "being clean in thought, word and deed." We vowed to serve God and our country. If you think that this organization's philosophy is non-controversial, you are sadly mistaken. We live in an era of Political Correctness. The beliefs and values that our society broadly embraced when I was a member of Boy Scout Troop 77, chartered by Holy Trinity Catholic Church of Racine, Wisconsin, are now endangered.Unfortunately, our federal courts often make decisions that assault our country's most cherished beliefs and values....

RIGHTALK RADIO - Paul Weyrich interviews Peter Paul Friday, July 29 at 1pm Eastern RIGHTALK RADIOBesides being the guy who is going to stop Hillary Clinton, there is much more to Peter Paul than you have heard. - President of the American Spirit Foundation in Hollywood from 1989-92 - worked with President Reagan to apply entertainment industry resources to support emerging democracy movements in former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe - worked with Weyric and Free Congress to help Boris Yeltsin be recognized by Bush 1 as the successor to Gorbachev as leader of a new democratic Russia - worked...

At the heart of the challenge facing the conservative agenda lies one simple fact: while we focused our efforts on politics, our opponents on the left focused instead on culture. Each of us won. Compared to where the conservative movement was the year I came to Washington, 1967, we are today immensely stronger politically. Republicans, most of whom are at least nominally conservative, control both Houses of Congress and the White House. That is success on a grand scale. Unfortunately, our opponents have won an equally large victory over our culture. Today, what was called the "counter-culture" in the 1960s...

This is the first of a series of columns I intend to write on “the next conservatism.” In them, I will lay out where I think conservatism needs to go after the end of President George W. Bush’s second term. Some people may wonder about the theme, “the next conservatism.” Isn’t conservatism always the same? Don’t we call ourselves conservatives because we believe in what Russell Kirk called “the permanent things,” truths that hold for all time?

The genesis for this column came from an article, “Liberals Ready to Abandon U.S. Right to Abortion,” published on July 3 in the British newspaper, THE OBSERVER. The journalist, Gaby Wood, asserted that “Abortion may still be the most divisive issue in the [United States], but in a move indicative of creeping conservatism, Democrats now seem happy to amend – even relinquish – their position on it.” Wood cited several liberals who argued that Democrats would need to abandon their nearly religious abhorrance of the Right’s view of abortion to win the 2008 Presidential Election and Congressional seats. Wood quoted...

Thursday, July 14, 2005 10:01 a.m. EDT Paul Weyrich: Every American Should Read 'Truth About Hillary' Edward Klein's "The Truth About Hillary" has become a runaway New York Times best seller. NewsMax has learned it will make the New York Times top 10 best-seller list for the third week in a row – despite a near total ban on the book by major television shows. Story Continues Below And despite criticism from even opponents of Hillary Clinton that the book is just too sensational, one of the nation's most noted conservatives is strongly embracing the book. "I was impressed with...

When I began working in politics in the late 1950s, after the Republicans had been seriously beaten, I attended many meetings the subject of which was the Grand Conspiracy. Speakers, some of reasonable intelligence, tried to make the case that somewhere in Washington [no one knew quite where] was the headquarters of the Liberal Conspiracy. If the Pope made policy for the Catholic Church, and if the President made policy for the United States, there must be a chief liberal who tells all the little liberals what to say. How else could one explain that the NEW YORK TIMES produced...

Links to both Parts (text of both parts is in this thread): Part 1: http://www.bizzyblog.com/?p=227 Part 2: http://www.bizzyblog.com/?p=228 _________________________ Digesting the meaning of the 2nd District Primary Results, who gained, and who lost: Winners: Every single resident of The 2nd District. No matter who wins on August 2, we will be represented by someone who lives with us, works with us, has integrity, and will effectively represent us (yes, even a Democrat can do that). Winners (again): Every single resident of The 2nd District. A McEwen victory would have forced BizzyBlog to fully research and verify a great deal of...

Is Dick Durbin America's Stupidest Senator? by Paul M. Weyrich Jun 13, 2005 Ever since the mid-1970s when Irving Kristol said Republicans were the Stupid Party, the label stuck. Oh, sure. From time to time Republicans did remarkable work, such as helping to enact President Ronald W. Reagan’s tax cuts or President George W. Bush’s tax cuts. Both tax cuts helped to lift an economy out of a recession. But there are many more examples of stupidity, such as President George Herbert Walker Bush enacting the largest tax increase -- at that point -- in history after having said, when...

Previously, I have criticized Paul Weyrich's endorsement of Bob McEwen here in detail and here for his (Weyrich's) inconsistency on term limits. There is a larger topic here, and that is the propriety of such endorsements in a race of this nature. There is a place for outsider endorsements in politics, but this race isn't it, and I'll explain why.Outsider endorsements can pass the smell test in two situations: The first is if there are only a few candidates involved, and there is a clear philosophical divide between those few candidates. The outsider can claim that they know the person...

Conservative pioneer Paul Weyrich has endorsed Bob McEwen for Congress in Ohio’s 2nd District. One of Weyrich’s key points is that McEwen, because of his twelve previous years in Congress, “can hit the ground running due to his previous service (i.e., he will have 12 years of seniority starting on Day 1 of his new term). Everyone else will be number 435.” That’s a legitimate argument one can bring to the table. McEwen will leapfrog 200-plus Members (just a wild guess; the number could be much higher) with less than 12 years in the House. Even the Congressman who defeated...

Bob McEwen is touting his list of high-profile “moral” leader and celebrity endorsements. One of his most prominent endorsers is Paul Weyrich, to whom conservatives, and really the entire country, owe a debt that can never be repaid (”progressives” will disagree, but in vain). Weyrich founded The Heritage Foundation in 1973 and began forming the intellectual foundation that ultimately led to Ronald Reagan’s election, the unprecedented prosperity of the 1980s, and the proactive overthrow of Soviet communism. He also was, and continues to be, a pioneer in tapping the social and cultural conservatism of grassroots citizens and giving it a...