The Republican Party - Moving Forward

I don't believe that the Republican Party needs to be rebuilt. Instead it needs to be refocused. There are a lot of bloggers with a lot of good ideas, but I think that if we just listen to some of the brightest people in the Republican Party, we will see the way forward pretty clearly. I believe that Republican principles remain the same. We have lost people who were never really with us - independents and Reagan Democrats, for example, Hispanics and blacks, libertarians and evangelicals. Independents generally vote based on the pocketbook issues. They will come back to the Republican Party in droves when President Obama pushes through all of his social welfare programs, and taxes go up to pay for some of them. The deficit will increase, or we will all pay more. Inflation will follow, as it almost always does during a Democratic administration.

Reagan Democrats will return to the Republican Party when a President Obama supports social programs that they disagree with such as gun control, abortion rights, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research. Hispanics may be lost to the Republican Party for years to come, because a President Obama will push for full amnesty for illegal immigrants and the Republican Party has made it clear that its grassroots workers will never support amnesty. Libertarians will eventually realize that when their choice is between an Obama administration and the Republican Party, they really have no choice - they will come back to the Republican Party.

The most difficult group to analyze is the Evangelicals. They are also the most rigid of all the groups. If a candidate disagrees with them on one issue, Evangelicals will not vote for that candidate. In fact, they will not vote at all. I'm just not sure that as a Republican, pure and simple, I think that is a battle we should even fight. We just can't afford a rigid idealogy. We need the support of every diverse group. We can't be an exclusionary party any longer.

Plaxico Burress Preparing to Surrender to Authorities

Plaxico Burress has been a mystery to me ever since his Steeler days. He is one of the most talented receivers I have ever seen and yet trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. I remember how Pittsburghers breathed a sigh of relief when their troubled wide receiver finally left town. I think the Giants fans will soon feel the same way.

Happy Thanksgiving

Dallas Historical Society finds possible copy of Lincoln's Bixby Letter

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five (5) sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

From Woolly Mammoth Hair, the Beast’s Genetic Map is Born

Woolly mammoths lumbered for more than 100,000 years across northern North America and Eurasia. By 2,000 BC, the behemoths had vanished, falling to human hunters and changing climate.

Now comes news that scientists have sequenced nearly the entire woolly mammoth genome, using genetic material in hair taken from long-frozen mammoth carcasses unearthed in Siberia. The effort marks the first genome-scale sequencing of an extinct animal's DNA, which carries the basic instructions that determine an organism's type, development, and function.

Bill Frist: Health Sector Must Be Made Into Health System

Senator Bill Frist has an article in Rollcall titled "Health Sector Must Be Made Into Health System." Senator Frist writes that comprehensive health care reform is likely to be shoved to the back burner as other issues, seemingly more pressing, rise to capture the attention of political leaders. He urgest all of us not to let that happen. Senator Frist goes onto say that affordable coverage for every American must be the goal, but it can't be achieved and maintained if we don't bend the cost/spending curve. Read the complete article here.

Mike Huckabee at the RNC

Bill Frist Speech at the RNC

Bill Frist gave a terrific speech at the RNC.

Michael Moore Makes me Glad I'm a Republican

If Michael Moore isn't a lunatic I don't know who is. Watch what he says about Hurricane Gustav.

Huck PAC heads to the Convention

Sara Huckabee and Drake Jarman arrive at the Republican National Convention.

Bill Frist Talks About Africa

Bill Frist, former Majority Leader, former Senator, Doctor, medical missionary talks about what America is doing in Africa.

Colin Powell

William Kristol was on Fox News this afternoon reporting that Colin Powell will speak at the Democratic convention and will endorse Barak Obama. I was not really surprised to hear this. I know a lot of people will say that it has to do with race. I don't think that is it at all. I think it has to do with Colin Powell feeling that he was betrayed by the Bush Administration when he presented the case on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction at the United Nations. I truly believe that Colin Powell never got over what he considers a betrayal.

PUBLIC DEFENDER BUILDS INJECTION CASE

What a brilliant argument by Public Defender David Barron. How exciting it must be for this young man to have a case heard by the United States Supreme Court. It will be interesting to see the outcome.

PUTTING A PLAGUE IN PERSPECTIVE

This is an interesting article, but Mr. Halperin has no credibility. The only person whose opinion I would rely on when it comes to global health is that of Dr. Bill Frist. He has been fighting this battle for 32 years, and has the knowledge, expertise, and experience to cause me to give his ideas great weight.

US DIPLOMAT KILLED IN SUDAN SHOOTING

Nice way to start the New Year. I wonder if it had anything to do with the President signing the Sudan sanctions bill?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Musings of a Whiskey Rebel wishes all of you a prosperous and healthy New Year. May all your dreams come true this year.

HOW REPUBLICANS CAN WIN IN 2008

Richard Whalen has some good ideas that Republicans need to consider as they move toward 2008.

MICHELLE MALKIN'S YEAR-IN-REVIEW: NOTABLE QUOTABLES, PART I.

Don't miss reading Michelle Malkin's round up of notable quotes from 2007.

DECEMBER 2007 LEAST DEADLY MONTH IN IRAQ WAR

Suitably Flip has the story about the success of General Petraeus and our brave troops.

GENERAL PETRAEUS: MAN WITH A MESSAGE OF HOPE

The Daily Telegraph got it right.

REPORT CARD/GAME 16 - STEELERS VS. RAVENS

The Steelers play Jacksonville Saturday night. It will be a short playoff season for my beloved Steelers.

PARCELLS FIRES DOLPHINS GM RANDY MUELLER

If ever there was a sports team that needed to be reorganized, Miami is it. I know that this is just the beginning. Look for Parcells to make a coaching change pretty quickly.

HILLARY, THE GERALDO OF NATIONAL POLITICS (UPDATE: HILLARY FIBBING?)

Captain Ed has a terrific article about Hillary. His comparison of her to Geraldo is on the money.

BUSH SIGNS INTO LAW SUDAN DIVESTMENT MEASURE

This is a good move by President Bush. Something like this will hurt the government of Sudan more than anything else we could do.

RAVENS FIRE HEAD COACH AFTER 5-11 SEASON

Brian Billick was fired as head coach of Baltimore. Football is a tough game.

WOMAN WHO TRIED TO KILL FORD FREED

I sure think it is wrong to let this lady go free. She tried to kill the President of the United States.

WICKER TO THE SENATE

Well, they couldn't possibly appoint someone as bad as Trent Lott was, could they?

HUNDREDS STUNG BY JELLYFISH IN BRAZIL

Here in Florida, we periodically have problems with jellyfish, but I have never heard of this many people being stung.

WORLD'S OLDEST ORANGUTAN DIES AT AGE 55

They say the life span of Orangutans is 40 to 50 years, so I guess this old guy lived to a ripe old age.

BHUTTO'S SON, HUSBAND TO SUCCEED HER

I don't know how the rest of you feel, but having a 19 year old, naive, inexperienced child succeed Benazir Bhutto makes no sense. Nor does having her husband, who has been widely accused of corruption, as chairman of the party, make any sense to me.

SOMALIA GANG DEMANDS RANSOM FOR AID WORKERS

I sometimes wonder if this part of the world will ever have peace.

BIN LADEN ISSUES WARNING ON IRAQ, ISRAEL

This is always a reminder that we are in fact, at war.

BUSH ACKNOWLEDGES CONCERNS ABOUT ECONOMY

This is not good news.

MILITANTS, BHUTTO AIDES ALLEGE COVER-UP

So many things that don't make sense.

HUCKABEE'S UNUSUAL CLOSING SPPECH

A good article about Governor Huckabee.

A LETTER FROM GENERAL PETRAEUS TO THE TROOPS

Here is a letter from General Petraeus - my Man of the Year - to the troops.

AL-QUEDA BLAMED FOR BHUTTO ASSASSINATION

I have a feeling it will be a long time before we know the truth.

BUSH PLANS TO VETO DEFENSE POLICY BILL

President Bush plans to veto the defense policy bill, claiming that there is a provision in it that would permit Americans to go after Iraqi assets held in American Banks, if they successfully sue for the atrocities of Saddam Hussein. Iraq has threatened to withdraw all funds from American banks.

STEM CELLS AND THE PRESIDENT—AN INSIDE ACCOUNT

I like Jay Lefkowitz, however I do not agree with his analysis, nor do I agree with his conclusion.

BENAZIR BHUTTO ASSASSINATED

More details about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. What a terrible tragedy for all peace loving people.

BENAZIR BHUTTO KILLED

Fox News has just announced that Benazir Bhutto has been killed.

THE SPEAKER'S GRAND ILLUSION

I have always believed that Nancy Pelosi was in another world.

THE ROMNEY BACKLASH: CONSERVATIVES ARE COMING HOME

Convincing Conservatives that he is a real conservative has been Mitt Romney's problem all along.

OCTOBER HOME PRICES POST RECORD DECLINE

I'm afraid this may be just the tip of the iceberg.

TIGER KILLS MAN AT SAN FRANCISCO ZOO

Makes you wonder how the tiger got loose, doesn't it?

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS

This op-ed in the Wall Street Journal offers a fascinating narrative of the history of the celebration of Christmas.

FAITHFUL MARK CHRISTMAS DAY ACROSS GLOBE

It is always rewarding to see so many people remembering the real meaning of today.

DEMOCRATS TRY TO REIN IN FEES ON CONSULTING

I was glad to read this story. Certainly candidates need to stop the free ride for these consultants.

PLAN WOULD LET SENIORS WORK TO PAY TAXES

Someone needs to tell the IRS, since they greatly restrict what people on social security can make.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

A beautiful story by one of my favorite journalists, Salena Zito.

THE PLIGHT OF BETHLEHEM

Sad but true.

POPE CELEBRATES MIDNIGHT MASS

The Pope celebrates mass at the Vatican.

BETHLEHEM CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS

Christmas in the only place to really celebrate it.

DEMOCRATS' BIG IDEAS YIELDED SMALL RESULTS

The truth is the Democrats have fallen flat on their faces.

ROMNEY ATTACKS MCCAIN TAX VOTES

This is the kind of substantive issue discussion that we need to see more of. John McCain voted no on all Bush tax cuts. I'd like to hear him discuss why.

SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS ANNOUNCE ENDORSEMENTS

Interesting endorsements and non-endorsements.

CONGRESS' MEAGER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

George Will nails the do-nothing Congress of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

ROMNEY SHOULD NOT BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT

This is a devastating editorial by the Concord Monitor stating their reasons that Mitt Romney should not be elected President. They are pretty compelling reasons.

WHERE BOYS WERE KINGS, A SHIFT TOWARD GIRLS

A fascinating story about the change in cultures where it was once almost mandatory to have boys.

ROMNEY TAKES ON MCCAIN OVER TAXES

John McCain remains too unpredictable to get the Republican nomination

HUCKABEE; STRONGER MILITARY, FAMILIES

Mike Huckabee continues to move up in the polls.

THE CONGRESSIONAL CEMETARY: 200TH ANNIVERSARY

This is a fascinating article. Check it out.

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, MAN OF THE YEAR

William Kristol writes that Time Magazine got it wrong. They sure did.

DEM LEADERS PRESSURED TO ALTER WAR STRATEGY

I would love to see this happen. The Democrats base would abandon them in droves if they did this.

OMNIBUS EARMARKS OUT: PRESIDENT BUSH SHOULD CANCEL CONGRESS'S PORK SPENDING

The Heritage Foundation has a good explanation of why and how the President can cancel many of the pork in the omnibus bill.

WILL BUSH CANCEL CONGRESS' CHRISTMAS?

Boy, would I love it if the President can do this.

ONE MAN GRIDLOCK: MEET TOM COBURN, THE SENATE'S DR. NO

I like Senator Coburn. He is one of the stalwarts in the battle for fiscal responsibility.

GATES CRITICIZES CONGRESS ON WAR FUNDING

Maybe Secretary Gates needs to be a little more forceful than he has been with Congress.

SPENDING BILLS STILL STUFFED WITH EARMARKS

over 11,000 earmarks. The question is how long are we, the American people, going to put up with this?

DEMOCRATS' 2007 REPORT CARD

I would have given them an F.

REPORT CARD - GAME 15 - STEELERS VS. ST. LOUIS RAMS

The Steelers won last night 41 to 24. We need to get our defense back playing together. They did not look good, but Big Ben and our receivers took care of everything. We lost Willie Parker for the rest of the year - a loss we can't afford.

PORK FOR CHRISTMAS (FOR SOME PEOPLE)

Paul Weyrich is the pundit I dislike the most. He is arrogant, pompous and self serving. I rarely pay any attention to anything he says. He lost my respect when he presumed to tell people who the good and bad Christians were in politics. But in this case, I have to give him credit for the article about the pork in the omnibus bill just passed by Congress.

TANCREDO DROPS BID FOR WHITE HOUSE

Tom Tancredo has dropped his futile bid for the White House and endorsed Mitt Romney.

AHEAD OF IOWA, REPUBLICAN RACE IS WIDE OPEN

I expect the race will be wide open for quite a while.

THE LARGEST SPENDING BILL IN U.S. HISTORY

My Heritage.org has the story of the ugly spending bill passed by Congress. What a disaster with all the earmarks, and unfortunately, the President intends to sign it.

ONE BUDGET CHEER

President Bush gave Congress a pass on earmarks. That will come back to haunt the Republican party.

SOME BASEBALL PLAYERS WON'T BE PUNISHED

No kidding!!!

TANCREDO TO ABANDON PRESIDENTIAL BID

Rumor is that he will announce tomorrow that he is supporting Fred Thompson.

OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL BUSTS THE BUDGET TO PAY FOR PORK

If you want to get a good idea of what a fraud this Democratically controlled Congress is, just read this article.

BLANKLEY NOT FIRING BLANKS

Tony Blankley writes for the Washington Times. His article about the in-fighting of the Republican party is on the money. Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters has the story.

COURT SAYS BABY CAN'T BE NAMED 'FRIDAY'

I must admit that I am very tired of the odd names that parents stick their kids with in today's society, but as I read this story I thought 'I don't want a Court telling us what we can name our kids!!'

PUTIN IS NAMED TIME 'PERSON OF THE YEAR'

Time Magazine gets more and more bizarre every year.

LIBERALS LOSE BIGTIME IN BUDGET BATTLE

Well, if the Democrats are seriously thinking of getting rid of Senator Byrd, maybe they will add Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to the list.

DEMS CONSIDER OUSTING BYRD AS APPROPRIATIONS CHAIR

I respect elderly people, but there comes a time when someone of Senator Byrd's age and health has to realize that a younger person should step in.

THE TWO WORDS THAT STRIKE FEAR INTO THE GOP

Again, Captain Ed has it right. I can't imagine anything worse than a brokered convention.

HONEY, WE SHRUNK THE FENCE

Captain Ed, as usual, is on the money with what shenanigans this Congress is up to.

WHY TR CLAIMED THE SEAS

Bret Stephens has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about the 43,000 mile journey around the world of the United States Atlantic Fleet on December 16, 1907. It is well worth reading today.

FED UNVEILS HOME MORTGAGE PROPOSAL

Everyone should read this carefully. Anytime the Federal government gets involved, it can't be good.

SENATOR BOND: NIE EMPHASIS IS WRONG

Ron Kessler has an article in Newsmax quoting Senator Bond about what Iran is really up to. I respect and trust Senator Bond's judgement, certainly much more than I trust the Intelligence community.

SENATE POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF SPY BILL

Another defeat for Harry Reid.

LAWSUIT ABUSE AGAINST DOCTORS CREATES MEDICAL CRISIS IN 42 STATES

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this report, but it is well worth reading.

REPORT CARD/GAME 14-- STEELERS VS. JAGUARSteelers vs. Jaguars

At this rate the Steelers will be lucky to make the playoffs. On second thought, they don't deserve to make the playoffs.

FISCAL 2008 HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS EARMARKS FINDER

CQ has a way for all of us to track our Congressional porkers.

CANDIDATES SCRAMBLING TO COPE WITH RISE OF HUCKABEE

It's troubling to me that other campaigns didn't see the Governor coming. It shows shortsightedness on their part.

HOW PETRAEUS TURNED AROUND IRAQ

He gets my vote for man of the year.

A REPUBLICAN RETREAT

Shame on Mitch McConnell. Just another reason why he should not be the leader of the Republican party in the Senate.

PAUL'S MONEY TRAIN STEAMROLLS ON

I have followed politics closely for 40 years. I have never seen a candidate who has impressed me more with his fund raising ability than Ron Paul. Having said that, I have never seen a candidate who impresses me less with his philosophy. I have read a lot about what Mr. Paul believes and where he stands on the issues. I don't agree with him on any issue, but I do respect his fundraising ability.

LiIEBERMAN TO ENDORSE MCCAIN

Now, this is huge!!

DEMOCRATS ASSESS HILL DAMAGE, LEADERSHIP

Charles Babington is a lousy reporter, but this is a good analysis of what has happened to Congressional Democrats. Pay particular attention to what Trent Lott says.

RUDY'S INCREDIBLE SHRINKING CAMPAIGN

Salena Zito has a good article about Rudy Giuliani. As she points out, he never planned on competing in Iowa, but if he loses in Florida (where he is now running third), his campaign is over.