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.