Conservative Conversation + Podcasts

Republicans are often incriminated as co-conspirators in the creation of our gargantuan welfare state. No doubt, some Republicans have taken up the tactics of the Democrats to try to wrestle away votes, but there is no doubt in my mind, Republicans should bear far less of this blame than is often assigned. Here are some […]

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By Misthiocracy got drunk and

Misthiocracy got drunk and

misthios (ancient greek): salaried, hired, hired labourer krátos (ancient greek): power, strength misthiocracy: Rule by the staffers.

| May 31, 2012

9 COMMENTS

#1: The Dragon capsule has successfully returned to Earth The two parts of the mission of which I had the most concern were the docking with the ISS and the return of the capsule to Earth. Preview Open

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From George W. to George W.

By Jonathan Horn

Jonathan Horn

Jonathan Horn is a former White House speechwriter and the author of a new Robert E. Lee biography, The Man Who Would Not Be Washington (Scribner, January 2015). Follow him on Twitter @JonathanDHorn.

| May 31, 2012

9 COMMENTS

As former President George W. Bush said at his portrait hanging ceremony today at the White House, there is now a symmetry to the presidents whose faces line the walls: The pictures start and end with a George W. A classic line from a man who always took the long view of history.

I’ll post a link in the comments section here to a transcript of President Obama’s remarks as soon as they are released, so we can continue the discussion from yesterday.

Silly Me, Or, There Will Too Be a Big Story Next Week

By Peter Robinson

Founder

Peter Robinson

Peter Robinson, former Reagan speechwriter, wrote the historic Berlin Wall address in which President Reagan urged Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" Peter Robinson is now a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and hosts the interview program "Uncommon Knowledge." Peter is a co-founder of Ricochet.

| May 31, 2012

23 COMMENTS

James Lileks closed the podcast this week in his usual manner, asking Rob and me to predict next week’s big story–and, thinking myself clever, I predicted that next week’s big story would be that there wasn’t any big story.

My reasoning–the outlines of which still strike me as more or less correct–was that summer, the season in which nobody makes big decisions, has already arrived. Whereas a week ago the Greeks seemed headed for an exit from the Euro, for example, they now appear to have resigned themselves instead to mere muddling-through. Romney’s campaign has become what it will be: Professional, but cautious, counting on swing voters to vote against President Obama rather than for Romney. Obama? He’ll simply spend the summer doing what he’s been doing: attacking Romney while making crude appeals to this or that interest group.

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By Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is a member of Ricochet.

| May 31, 2012

7 COMMENTS

This video showed up on my Facebook feed today. Apparently it took place during the 2008 campaign, but I hadn’t seen it before. Preview Open

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By Keith Rice

Keith Rice

A checkered past has brought me through Orthodox Judaism to ultra-Leftist, and finally finding me as an arch-conservative. My search for the truth has taken me to extremes to be sure but my current position is relative - the Left lost touch with humanity some decades ago and continues to forge a path perpendicular to reality. Retired business owner with two kids and three grandkids

| May 31, 2012

23 COMMENTS

Apparently the Supreme Court decision of 2000, which supported the Boy Scouts claim of freedom of association, is still not satisfactory. A lesbian den leader was ousted and seeks to pressure BSA to change its policy. Preview Open

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By DocJay

DocJay

| May 31, 2012

Yet another perfect example of statements made in the heat of battle that can come back to haunt you. Jonathan Lowe is a victim of the times. Sure he served his country loyally as a Marine but he made the mistake of being outside, defending his life, and then talking to the police. Philadelphia theoretically […]

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Signs of a Spineless Leader

By John Bell

John Bell

John R. Bell is the retired CEO of coffee/confectioner Jacobs Suchard’s North American business, now part of Kraft Foods. After Kraft, he became a strategy and branding consultant for several of the globe’s most respected blue-chip consumer goods companies. Currently, he is a regular blogger at www.ceoafterlife.com, an online contributor to Fortune and Forbes, and a self-professed wannabe novelist. John resides in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia and can be found on Twitter @JohnRichardB… [more]

| May 31, 2012

26 COMMENTS

Do you have to meet a spineless leader to know one? Not necessarily. Recently, I uncovered a spineless leader just by learning how he handled a single set of circumstances – the orchestrating of an unfair and unjust hiring practice that covertly circumvented the promotion of the best candidate. I had adequate information to visualize the yellow stripe illuminating from the back of his neck to the base of his spine.

For sure, the details of this tragic case would make for juicy story-telling. But I’ll not go there because the story is a little too close to home. So I’ll use this example as a catalyst to share five signs of a spineless leader. If you see any of these within the leadership of your organization, beware. Think seriously about moving on.

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By EJHill

Podcaster

EJHill

Thirty years in television production. Living in a midwestern city in the productive custody of his wife and four children (Baby Girl, Marine, Future Tony Winner & Xerox). Unrelenting, unrepentant conservative. Needs a better temperament that equals his photoshop skills. Will probably die broke but believes more in freedom than the welfare state.

| May 31, 2012

15 COMMENTS

For your liberal Facebook “friends” Preview Open

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By The (apathetic) King Prawn

The (apathetic) King Prawn

Just another disillusioned conservative. Also not a shrimp.

| May 31, 2012

10 COMMENTS

I just saw a flier for this when I stopped at a convenience store a few minutes ago. I really don’t know whether to cheer the spirit of innovation, laugh, or weep for our society. Help me out here. Preview Open

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By Austin Murrey

Austin Murrey

Austin Murrey spends most of his time stockpiling canned goods and laying tripwires inside his own home. In spare moments he writes cranky letters to the editor of the Manchester Union-Leader which mostly fail to be published due to seplling.

| May 31, 2012

7 COMMENTS

Per the Huffington Post: BOSTON — A federal appeals court Thursday declared that the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally denies federal benefits to married gay couples, a ruling all but certain to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Preview Open

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By L.T. Rahe

L.T. Rahe

| May 31, 2012

Sanford Levinson’s opinion piece in theNew York Times makes for a disturbing read. The title, “Our Imbecilic Constitution,” informs us to what degree Prof. Levinson reveres the highest law in our land. In the course of the article, he trashes the electoral college, the part of the great compromise which awarded two senators to each […]

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By Mollie Hemingway

Mollie Hemingway

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a columnist for Christianity Today and contributor to GetReligion.org. Her writing on religion, economics and baseball has appeared in The Wall Street Journal</

| May 31, 2012

34 COMMENTS

After seeing how horribly Elizabeth Warren has handled her little Cherokee problem — for weeks! — I’m beginning to think there must be a need for better crisis communications firms. I have no experience, but I know I could do much, much better than this: <script type=’text/javascript’ src=’http://WFXT.images.worldnow.com/interface/js/WNVideo.js?rnd=894253;hostDomain=www.myfoxboston.com;playerWidth=630;playerHeight=355;isShowIcon=true;clipId=7346477;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=;enableAds=true;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript_EMBEDDEDscript;controlsType=overlay’></script> Preview Open

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By tabula rasa

tabula rasa

Farm boy. Attorney. Lifelong Mormon. Heroes: C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton. Mildly to severely deranged Denver Broncos fan.

| May 31, 2012

8 COMMENTS

I apologize. Two posts in a row. But I just saw the Real Clear Politics polls this morning (usual caveats: it’s early, lots of undecideds, no one’s paying attention, lots of time to go, etc), and they have got to be making Alexrod incontinent: NBC/Marist reports that Obama is up by two in Nevada, which […]

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By Ward

Ward

"The source of life is not gain, nor is it luxury, the source of life is movement, color, love and furthermore you must work quietly and humbly to realize your delusions of grandeur." - Alessandro Giuliani _Soldier of the Great War_

| May 31, 2012

7 COMMENTS

Victor Davis Hanson has a fascinating look at Europe http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/political/international/victor-davis-hanson/25561179.html?articleURL=http://rss.tmsfeatures.com/websvc-bin/rss_story_read.cgi?resid=201205301630TMS_____VDHANSON_ctnvh-a_20120531 And there is an interesting new book called _Why Nations Fail_ http://www.amazon.com/Why-Nations-Fail-Origins-Prosperity/dp/0307719219/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338476531&sr=1-1 Preview Open

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By Biden Pure Demagogue

Coolidge

Biden Pure Demagogue

One infection to rule them all and one injection to bind them.

| May 31, 2012

1 COMMENTS

Thomas Hibbs is currently Distinguished Professor of Ethics & Culture and Dean of the Honors College at Baylor University. But he looks too cool to write in National Review and appear on National Public Radio. A scholar and a popularizer: I hate him already. Oh well. For your viewing pleasure: Preview Open

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By reidspoorhouse

reidspoorhouse

Born 1953, married to an Angel, Bonnie. I have two kids 27 and 25 boys Michael and Dustin.

| May 31, 2012

I recently came upon this comment about an article on the Drudge Report. It’s not original, and I don’t know it’s source, but I thought it worth repeating. (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least […]

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By Lenny Analias

Lenny Analias

| May 31, 2012

1 COMMENTS

We (US) give 2,100,000,000 in foreign aid to Pakistan. But because they have jailed the doctor who helped us identify Bin Laden, we’re only going to give them $2.067,000,000. My son is buying a new car. I want to give him $1,000 to help him. But, because he did something that did not sit well […]

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By Mollie Hemingway

Mollie Hemingway

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is a columnist for Christianity Today and contributor to GetReligion.org. Her writing on religion, economics and baseball has appeared in The Wall Street Journal</

| May 31, 2012

60 COMMENTS

Remember when the federal government banned alcohol? And how everyone looks back on that decision as a horrible mistake involving government overreach and idiocy? That was a time of restraint and wisdom compared to this. Preview Open

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Once the Supreme Court Rules on Obamacare, Who Benefits?

By Ben Domenech

Ben Domenech

Benjamin Domenech is a research fellow for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of Health Care News, as well as editor in chief of The City, an academic journal on politics and culture. Ben previously served as speechwriter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, and as chief speechwriter for U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas. An editor of multiple New York Times bestsellers, Domenech co-founded Redstate, a prominent site described by National Journal as the most w… [more]

| May 31, 2012

9 COMMENTS

Philip Klein argues that the outcomes of the Scott Walker election and the Supreme Court ruling could make June a pivotal month for the 2012 election. He’s obviously right. But I disagree with his assumptions regarding how a Supreme Court ruling will play:

Even if the court merely overturns the mandate forcing individuals to purchase government-approved insurance policies, it would reshuffle the political deck ahead of the presidential election. Suddenly, Mitt Romney would have an easy retort to Obama’s efforts to tie the national health care law to the one Romney signed in Massachusetts — namely that the Massachusetts law was done in a constitutionally permissible way. Such a ruling would also strengthen the attack on Obama’s handling of the economy, because he will have spent more than a year of his presidency pushing health care legislation that turned out to be a waste of time.