Free Republic

Media outlets this week are all over a new Pew study that finds, the headlines promise, that President Trump's support is not quite as broad and not quite as happy as his stunningly stable approval rating might suggest. But what's striking from the numbers, at least as far as I can see, is not how much support Trump has lost but how, given the daily barrage of tweets and countertweets; ugly chants and ugly corruption trials (his campaign chairman); intense criticism in the media; all-out war in Congress; and foreign policy flubs and domestic failures, much remains firm, and how...

Roger Ailes's tenure as the head of Fox News may be coming to an end. Rupert Murdoch and sons Lachlan and James — co-chairmen and CEO, respectively, of parent company 21st Century Fox — have settled on removing the 76-year-old executive, say two sources briefed on a sexual-harassment investigation of Ailes being conducted by New York law firm Paul, Weiss. After reviewing the initial findings of the probe, James Murdoch is said to be arguing that Ailes should be presented with a choice this week to resign or face being fired. Lachlan is more aligned with their father, who thinks...

Trump’s crass approach to presidential race shows disdain for office Hillary Clinton Got What? “Schlonged.” That is what Donald Trump said Monday night, referring to President Obama’s victory over Hillary Clinton, the former senator and secretary of state, in the long battle for the 2008 presidential nomination. Appearing at a rally in Michigan, Trump rallied his crowd by saying this: “She was favored to win, and she got schlonged.” For those whose family newspapers don’t carry these words, or those who have, for good reason, never heard them before, the translation is exactly what you think it is. For...

Is Ted Cruz too mean to be president? Being nice is, for better or worse, not a qualification for the presidency. “Nice” is not a term one often heard associated with Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon, both — in their ways, and with obvious limits — highly effective presidents. But I don’t remember reading quotes about either Nixon or Johnson from those close to them describing them as unqualified for the presidency on account of being just too mean, too arrogant and too self-centered. After all, most nice people are not nearly so in love with the sound of their...

Susan Estrich is  a bigtime Hillary Clinton supporter. Therefore it was no surprise that in her March 6 column she wrote off the Hillary e-mail scandal as mere silliness. However, following reader input and Hillary's disastrous press conference at the United Nations, Estrich had a bit of a change of heart. Not exactly a 180. More like a 90 chock full of extreme naivete. Now Estrich wants Hillary to turn over her e-mail server. Not because like James Carville she thinks it will reveal something harmful to her but because she actually believes it contains only harmless material. First let...

On Saturday, Bowe Bergdahl was a hero, and the five members of the Taliban being freed in exchange for him were the worst of the worst. By the end of the week, it seemed that neither is actually true. The parade in Bergdahl’s Idaho hometown was canceled. Four of the five aren’t nice guys, but they aren’t war criminals, either. As for Bergdahl, I don’t pretend to know whether he deserted his unit. That is a question that can only be answered in a properly and fairly conducted court-martial. But the account that broke my heart was the interview with...

First, Gloria Allred tells Sean Hannity she enjoyed the pat-down she received at the hands of the TSA. Now, liberal commentator Susan Estrich tells the TSA in an op-ed they "...can poke away all..." they want if it will keep her safe. Citing the so-called "underwear bomber", Estrich says she's fine with the "inconvenience" even if it means "elderly ladies" carrying one-way tickets get selected for scans. In her piece, she cites politicians and conservatives for fanning the controversy: A revolt is apparently growing at the grassroots level — being fanned by politicians and right-wing talking heads — against the...

Remember when liberals brushed aside any criticism of candidate Barack Obama being unqualified to become president because of his lack of executive experience? Well, that was then and this is now because Susan Estrich has suddenly developed "concern" over the qualifications of the Tea Party backed Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York, Carl Paladino. A skeptic might rightly believe this recent Estrich infatuation with qualifications could be inspired by the fact that Paladino is closing the gap in the polls with the Democrat candidate, Andrew Cuomo. Here is Estrich with her newly developed qualifications concern: The Republican nominee for governor...

The dog ate my homework. That's not much of an excuse but at least it is better than the one Susan Estrich came up with as to one of the reasons why she changed her mind on the Ground Zero Mosque controversy. Estrich claims she thought they were talking about another mosque when Fox News asked her to comment on the mosque controversy. What other mosque? Anybody even slightly knowledgeable about current events will now instantly think "Ground Zero Mosque" when they hear about a mosque controversy. Not Susan Estrich. Here she is delivering her laughable excuse: Recently, I found...

The conventional wisdom these days is that the best shot for Democrats heading into the November elections in marginal districts is for the president to raise money and lower his profile. Just send checks. Events after 7 p.m. Closed to the press. This is not an election Democrats want to "nationalize." Better to keep it local. Better to run as your own man or woman, not as the president's best friend. Republicans, by contrast, will spend as much time as they can running against the president. If his popularity is down to his base (low 40s), that means voters in...

Not long ago, a close friend called me with an unusual request. She and her husband were looking for a new doctor to take care of them. What made it unusual was that they'd had the same doctor for years -- decades, actually. What happened to "J," I asked. Did I miss something in my otherwise careful reading of the obits? Had he hung up his stethoscope? None of the above. Her husband had turned 65 and was now eligible for Medicare. Good news -- except "J" is one of the increasing number of doctors who aren't taking "new" Medicare...

In her column last week (“The responsibility is ours,” May 25, 2010), Susan Estrich claimed that crime in Mexico was attributable to “American assault rifles bought at gun stores on the border” and that “Eighty percent of the 75,000 assault weapons seized by Mexican authorities were traced back to the United States.” To set the record straight, NSSF President Steve Sanetti submitted his own op-ed piece for publication. In her op-ed last week (“The responsibility is ours,” May 25, 2010), Susan Estrich claimed that crime in Mexico was attributable to “American assault rifles, bought at gun stores on the border”...

There are some stories that make you cover your eyes with your hand and groan. And this column by Susan Estrich about what she thinks is the poorly named Apple iPad is definitely one of those. Here is Estrich putting on her feminist cap and making a very long stretch on blaming the name "iPad" on a "lack of diversity" at Apple: Is there a woman in America who did not laugh, or at least roll her eyes, the minute she heard that the newest, hottest tablet computer from one of America's most ingenuous companies was going to sound like...

Susan Estrich worked for a number of years on the staff of Senator Ted Kennedy. Of course, she has some warm memories about working for him. However, in contrast to the almost uncritical lionization of Kennedy by such outlets as the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times as well as by Evan Thomas of Newsweek, Estrich was able to look at her former boss, warts and all, in a surprisingly frank remembrance in her column. She did not attempt to bury his faults as you can see in this critique of his speaking style: The first time I wrote...

It is one thing for conservatives to criticize President Obama's QAHCAA (Quality, Affordable Health Coverage for All Americans) health care plan but now even a number of liberals are attacking it as unworkable. We recently saw skepticism emanating from Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski and now fellow liberal, Susan Estrich, is expressing deep doubt that any such plan is economically feasable. Estrich kicks off her column with a sarcastic look at the "success" of Obama's stimulus plan: The stimulus program must really be succeeding in Washington, D.C. Government is hiring; people are working. In fact, if news reports are to be...

Susan Estrich is worried. Very worried. She believes that the current coordinated Democrat strategy of attacking Rush Limbaugh is completely counterproductive. And she's right: He talks for hours every day. He gets paid to talk. Just talk. Doing it well is no small thing; witness the number of people who have tried to be him, or be the NOT-him, and failed. But he doesn't have to build a coalition. He doesn't need the votes of the other side to earn his check. He doesn't have to write the legislation, convince Olympia Snowe, raise money to keep the lights on, put...

They say love conquers all and this might just be the case with Susan Estrich. The normally liberal columnist seems to be absolutely smitten with Todd Palin. Her recent column sounds more like a love note to him than a political analysis: First Dude. That's what they call him in Alaska. It's OK. Todd's Ok. Whatever. He smiles at Greta Van Susteren. Not a touch of noblesse. More like plan old politesse. I always laugh a little when I see people who are very much not ordinary Americans in any respect (pay, fame, education or overall wealth, for starters) try...

"Many question Barack Obama's experience and are now recoiling a little bit at some of the tactics." Video at link

Spare me the true believers. I don’t mean the people who support Barack Obama for president. I support Barack Obama for president. I mean the people who worship him to the point that anyone who says anything raising questions about the inevitability of his rise to sainthood, much less the perfection of him and his wife and his campaign, is deserving of damnation. I wrote a column last week about how the Obama campaign needed to guard against the arrogance that many people tell me they have detected in dealing with them. I didn’t condemn the candidate. I didn’t say...

Think you've got problems? Consider the perils of Susan Estrich. Divorced, she has to eke out a living as a lawyer to support her two children. The demands of that job mean she doesn't get to see the kids as often as she likes. She is overweight and lacks the discipline to exercise regularly. Her house is a mess, and unethical rug cleaners wrecked her living-room floor. Wait, it gets worse. Her nanny lacks medical insurance because the application form is too confusing for Estrich to fill out. Estrich herself has health care, but complications from a recent surgical procedure...