Free Republic

The trans woman UCI Masters Track World Championship cycling gold medalist is defending her win against criticism that it's unfair for her to have competed against cisgender females. Rachel McKinnon, 36, an assistant professor of philosophy at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, scooped up the top prize during the October 14 race, besting cis females Carolien van Herrikhuyzen and Jen Wagner-Assali, who took silver and bronze, respectively. The day after McKinnon's win, Wagner-Assali stirred up controversy when she replied to a tweet about the race with her own tweet suggesting that McKinnon was not deserving of winning the...

After this weekÂ’s devastating hearings involving Christine Blassey Ford, who testified that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 80s, we werenÂ’t sure what SNL would roll out of the gate with. Over the last few years, SNL has been an Emmy winning satire on the state of American politics, but sometimes laughter isnÂ’t enough. When it calls for it, Saturday Night Live doesnÂ’t hesitate to ditch the traditional cold open to address the issues of the week. When the Las Vegas shooting happened, the show opened with James Aldean performing a tribute. Following Donald TrumpÂ’s election,...

Ah, the Emmys. It’s just another award show that panders to those that believe everything they hear on both the news and politically-driven entertainment shows. Perhaps the most laugh-worthy quote of the night came when “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kate McKinnon won her second straight Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a comedy series. In accepting one of the many false idols that Hollywood likes to dole out on a yearly basis, McKinnon gave a special shout out to former Democratic presidential nominee for president Hillary Clinton. “On a very personal note, I want to send a thank you...

Supporters are as exhausted as Velma Hart, the Tea Party has momentum, and Republicans are now more trusted. Mark McKinnon on why those issues, plus nine others, spell doom for the president’s reelection hopes. President Obama’s State of the Union was strongly bipartisan and made smart moves to the center, although it missed a chance to really tackle tough fiscal issues like meaningful entitlement reforms. His Arizona speechwas terrific, his favorable ratings are climbing over 50, the economy is showing steady signs of improvement, and the stock market is up. So, how could he possibly lose his reelection bid? Just...

Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann is flirting with a run in 2012, but the GOP may not get a real shot at the White House until four years later. Mark McKinnon on why, dynasty issues aside, Bush will be a clear favorite. As the 112th Congress settles into its first week of work, political fireworks are already going off that could have a big impact on the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016. Michele Bachmann and Jeb Bush showed some leg this week and got many in the GOP steaming up. While the media fixates on a possible presidential...

One of the founders of the new political group "No Labels" ..."All they see is the poison and the hyper-partisanship," Mark McKinnon ... "No Labels" officially launches Monday with an event in New York City expected to draw 1,000 people from all 50 states. Also expected in attendance are political heavyweights such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-N.Y.), Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), along with Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), among others.

You may recall Mark McKinnon as the Republican political strategist who worked to help John McCain win the 2008 GOP nomination, but then quit because he refused to campaign against Barack Obama. You may recall Mark McKinnon as the Republican political strategist who accused Rick Santorum of having “a lack of character.” You may recall Mark McKinnon as the Republican political strategist who in May 2009 told ABC News: “If the Republican party does not expand its tent, it’s going to turn into a circus, and it’s going to become a minority freak show that sort of features Rush Limbaugh...

Two week ago, when John Heilemann wrote a cover story for New York Magazine outlining the perfect storm that could carry Sarah Palin to a Presidential election victory in 2012, I would have told you that Sarah was much more powerful as a king-maker and not a King. And then she went and bragged to Barbara Walters that she can beat Obama in 2012 this. Hah ha. Funny. In an Armageddon kind of way right? We can’t be that stupid, can we? Well… in the immortal slogan of an era long ago: yes we can! So I decided to re-read...

As Sarah Palin ponders a 2012 presidential campaign, some prominent Republicans are urging her to resist the temptation to run even as her devoted followers flock to her book tour. In recent days, a debate has broken out among Republicans over whether the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and popular activist would be able to defeat a politically weakened President Barack Obama in two years. The criticism, rejected by Team Palin, reflects concerns among establishment Republicans that the former Alaska governor lacks the gravitas to oust a sitting president, even a struggling one. Palin has a very strong following in...

US political pundits baffled as former Alaska governor gambles on nationwide book tour and reality TV show "Sarah Palin has done everything wrong according to the traditional way of campaigning," said Scott Rasmussen, a leading pollster and co-author of a book on the Tea Party. "She gave up her position of power as governor of Alaska, she wrote a book for a lot of money, she has her daughter on Dancing with the Stars, she is on her own reality TV show, she's been incredibly partisan in her politics – this is everything that a presidential candidate is supposed not...

I spent only a few hours with the former governor, helping to prepare her for the vice presidential debate in October 2008. And during that brief window, I saw Palin at one of her most vulnerable moments, when any result other than a complete train wreck seemed impossible. And yet I also saw a determined woman buckle down, recover her confidence and then storm the national stage where she more than held her own against a seven-term senator. Did she face some tough slogging to reach her remarkable perch? Sure, you betcha. I admire her tenacity, her verve, her moxie,...

O’Donnell likes nights on the town, Palin is a clotheshorse, Angle is “crazy,” Whitman is a “whore”—conservative women are being attacked from all sides, but voters will reward the victims at the polls, says Mark McKinnon. Nuts and sluts, bitches and whores: That’s the gauntlet conservative women must run to compete for the “honor” of political office today. While every campaign season is deemed more vicious than those that came before, the attacks this time around have reached a new low. Rather than debate ideas and policies, weak-minded opponents of strong-willed women resort to sexualized attacks—a cover to compensate for...

A few words about Sarah Palin: She is one of the most fascinating women I have ever met. She crackles with energy like a live electrical wire and on first meeting gets about three inches from your face. Her instant subliminal message is: “I don’t know you very well, but I’m very clear about who I am.” She reeks of moxie and self confidence. And she’s fearless. Well, she was mostly fearless when I intersected with her. But, she was also a week out from a nationally televised debate with Joe Biden, and she knew she was in trouble. She...

Republican political strategist Mark McKinnon – veteran of McCain and Bush presidential campaigns – acknowledged in an interview with David Frum that a third-party presidential effort for 2012 was not far off, and hinted at his involvement in one. In the podcast interview, McKinnon, who was discussing his recent Daily Beast column “A Centrist Manifesto”, lamented that “there’s nobody that gets rewarded for bipartisan behavior, [and] in fact they get punished.” To that end, he said, “there is a very real possibility for a legitimate third party effort for 2012 … American voters are so hungry for more voice, and...

LONDON — A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA space agency computers was on Friday refused permission to appeal to the new Supreme Court in London against his extradition to the United States. The High Court had turned down Gary McKinnon's extradition challenges and on Friday refused him leave to appeal, ruling that that his case did not raise "points of law of general public importance" -- a prerequisite of being able to pursue a cause in the Supreme Court. The 43-year-old could spend life in prison if convicted by a US court of gaining access to...

Here is video of former Bush and McCain adviser McKinnon on MSNBC talking about Chicago's failed Olympic bid. McKinnon said "I think the Chicago incident was bad political instincts and bad political judgment but I was disappointed that it didn't come to America, and I think it is patriotic that we should have supported that move." He went on to say "I was very disappointed to see talk show hosts like Mark Levin coming out with jaw-dropping hate language about the president..and reveling in the presidents failure." (Video)

The demonstrators were mostly against Big Government, but many banners and signs on display during the 9-12 march and rally in Washington, D.C. expressed disgust with liberal media bias. One of the harshest was, "Mainstream media: communists or puppets?" Another said, "Why are the watchdogs White House lapdogs?" One of the most direct, equating liberal news outlets to state-run media, was "AP, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC=Pravda." Still another said simply, "Shame on Mainstream Media!" On the other hand, television and radio talk-show host Glenn Beck was a hero, as the "Glenn Beck for President" sign illustrated. Several signs declared "Thank...

'Taxpayer March' in D.C. Attracts Party Leaders, but Some Are Wary. BY DAN EGGEN & PERRY BACON JR. With tens of thousands of conservative protesters expected to gather in Washington on Saturday for a "Taxpayer March on D.C.," Republican officials are attempting to capitalize on a movement that lately has galvanized anti-Obama activists more effectively than the party's elected leaders in Washington. Searching for ways to compete with Democrats after two consecutive electoral drubbings, Republicans have moved past earlier uncertainty about the protesters, who organized nationwide rallies this summer that have threatened Democratic health-care plans and eroded President Obama's standing...

Mark McKinnon, vice chairman of Public Strategies & President of Maverick Media, wrote a great article for The Daily Beast titled "How her mind works" about the time he spent with Governor Palin.

Jay McKinnon, a self-described Department of Homeland Security-trained document specialist, has implicated himself in the production of fraudulent Hawaii birth certificate images similar to the one endorsed as genuine by the Barack Obama campaign, and appearing on the same blog entry where the supposedly authentic document appears. The evidence of forgery and manipulation of images of official documents, triggered by Israel Insider's revelation of the collection of Hawaii birth certificate images on the Photobucket site and the detective work of independent investigative journalists and imaging professionals in the three weeks since the publication of the images, implicate the Daily Kos,...