[Cross-posted from Red County.com]

There’s an article on Wall Street Journal on Bill Simon, conservative philanthropy and intellectually reviving the Republican Party. Near the end of the piece, the 2002 GOP gubernatorial nominee indicates he might run again in 2010:

In fact, Mr. Simon tells me that he would definitely consider running again for governor or lieutenant governor in 2010. He says that the budget crisis in California, including a deficit which he estimates at approximately $40 billion, will "require very fundamental change. This is an issue I understand. Economic issues are a strength for me."

You can read the whole article here.… Read More

Readers of the Los Angeles Times this morning are treated to this lovely photo of none other than our own FR contributor Mike Spence. Why? Check out the article Conservative Sees Reason For Hope In Season of Gloom.

Mike is our resident optomist!… Read More

Former California Republican Gubernatorial Nominee Bill Simon sat down for a lengthy one-on-one interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Naomi Schaeffer Riley. The piece, A Conservative Philanthropist Looks To The Future, is definitely worth a read.

I did note, most of the way through the piece, the following excerpt (the boldfacing is added by me for emphasis).

One has to wonder if Simon is serious about a potential statewide bid in 2010… Mr. Simon first ran for governor of California seven years ago. He beat the Republican establishment’s candidate, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, in the primaries, and lost by only five percentage points to the incumbent governor Gray Davis. Though Mr. Simon was not shy about his staunch social conservatism — including his opposition to abortion — he focused his campaign on fiscal restraint, education reform… Read More

Does Mike Duncan warrant another term as Republican National Committeechairman? San Diego’s Rick Amato of KCBQ radio does an interview with Duncan on Washington Times Radio to get the answer. Listen to it here.

Of all the criticism of Republicans at the national level, what rings the truest comes down to a lack of understanding the pulse of the electorate, exacerbated by a subsequent lack of applying conservative principles to the country’s issues and problems in such a way that the voters understand those solutions as the best path of action for the nation.

If that’s too complicated, how about this? If voters rightfully want change, perhaps they don’t see it coming from a party that consistently ignores its principles by growing the size of government and ignoring common sense, while openly cow-towing to the status-quo.

Republican leaders and bloggers can… Read More

Of all the civilizations of antiquity, I’ve always held a special place for the Romans, both the Republic and the Empire. The sheer time scale of this civilization is almost hard to comprehend. The Republic was founded around 510 BC, started faltering around 130 BC, was replaced in fact if not in name by an Empire in 29 BC. The Empire in one form or another lasted formally until 1453 with the fall of Constantinople . Coming from the perspective of a 200 some-odd year old Republic this was quite a run.

What I respect most about the Romans was that they understood that the world was a constantly changing place, and that to fail to adapt to changing times was to surrender power, and thus to surrender their ability to determine their own future. This came to mind today because I was reading an old history book about the Roman wars with Carthage – in particular the… Read More

One take on the results of the November election is that the Republican Party needs to get to work, first and foremost, on rebuilding the Party in coastal Orange County, especially coastalsouthern Orange County, to re-establish the possibility oflarge margins of Republican votes in statewide elections from this area. That’s because voters in these former bastions of conservatism, and historical homes to Congressional districts of the likes of Chris Cox, Ron Packardand John Schmitz,turned out in droves for Barack Hussein Obama in the Presidential election.The"GOP brand" is hurtinghere,and given the irony of high Republican registration in these areas,GOP leaders needtofind a solution to getting these voters back in the Republican column or risk the creation of a longer-term Democrat trend inan important part of what used to be called America’s most Republican county.

Courtesy of Allen Hoffenblum’s "Target Book," we learn that though Congressman Dana Rohrabacher beat Democrat Debbie Cook handily at 53% to 43%, that John McCain’smargin of victory wasmuch closer in this 46th… Read More

The Jewish calendar, being based on a lunar cycle, and having only 10 months, tends to jump around a bit relative to the traditional Christian calendar upon which the world relies for figuring out the day and year. Because of this, sometimes the eight days of Hanukkah overlap the Christmas holiday, and sometimes they do not. This year they do — today is Christmas, and it is also the 4th day of Hannukah.

On behalf of the FlashReport, we would like to wish our readers a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas today, and blessings on you and your family!

Thank you for being a part of the FR’s "extended family" and we look forward to great things ahead!… Read More

All of society depends on citizens accepting our mutual responsibility to each other to follow the law, or accept the consequences for failing to do so. We live in a democratic republic. We elect leaders to govern within a constitutional framework. We have three branches of government, each serving as a check and balance on the power of the other. Ultimately, though, all power is vested in the People – the collective sovereign “we” – that our leaders are sworn to serve.

As citizens, we don’t get to pick and choose which laws to follow, and which ones we can just ignore. There are a lot of laws on the books that I disagree with. Some are simply annoying – like having to wear an earpiece to use my cell phone in the car. Others are quite offensive – like having to pay an ever escalating tax bill to support a state government whose growth has vastly outpaced population increases. But whether I like it or not, I must follow the law if I wish to remain a part of California society.

The rule of law is taking some major hits, and the perpetrators are the very people who take a solemn oath to uphold the constitution. It is disturbing that so few media voices… Read More