MONDAY 10/13/03

WE REALLY OUGHT TO TAKE THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD

I'm sure I speak for Clark Howard, Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes when I say thanks to the people of Orlando for their wonderful reception for our Meeting of the Mouths at the Orange County Convention Center Saturday night.  The crowd exceeded our expectations.  It was a great time, folks.  Thank you very much, and thanks to the wonderful staff at 580-WDBO for putting on such a grand event.

LIBERALS ARE BESIDE THEMSELVES WITH GLEE

Today marks the first broadcast day of Rush Limbaugh's four-week hiatus for treatment of his dependency on prescription pills, and many on the left couldn't be happier.  The left typically shows more compassion for a mass murder who lost his latest appeal than they are showing for Limbaugh.  So, where is all of this much-celebrated liberal compassion?  I suppose we forgot that liberals usually show their compassion by spending someone else's money.

Some on the left are looking at Rush's month of drug rehab as the perfect time to do a little "kicking while they're down."  Evan Thomas writes this in a current Newsweek article:  "The man behind the curtain is not the God of Family Values but a childless, twice-divorced, thrice-married schlub whose idea of a good time is to lie on his couch and watch football endlessly. Nice."

It's odd, isn't it?  The left can't find a way to criticize a welfare brood mare who downloads a succession of future jail inmates she can't possibly afford to raise, but they're eager to apply the "childless" label to someone who can afford to raise a child, but has none. 

NOW --- ABOUT THAT WAR ON DRUGS

A question for those of you out there who are so adamant about pushing this illogical war on drugs.  So, you like to see drug pushers in jail, right?  And those people who buy drugs from those pushers?  You want them in jail too, right?  Yeah, damn right!  Lock them all up! 

Most of the people who adopt this "take no prisoners" attitude on drugs are conservative.  Most, not all.  Read the law.  If Rush Limbaugh was doing those things that the National Enquirer says he was doing, then he could conceivably face quite a lengthy jail term.  Is that what you want?  Are you grumbling to yourself that Rush ought to be getting his treatment in a hospital jail ward somewhere? 

What's the deal here?  You're celebrating (as you should) Rush's decision to seek treatment.  If this is such a good option for Rush (and it is) then why isn't it a good option for some sap from the inner city who succumbs to neighborhood peer pressure and gets hooked on drugs? 

UNIONS -- DOING THEIR JOB FOR THEIR FRIENDLY LOCAL POLITICIAN

Grocery store workers on strike in California.  Are they upset because they're not getting paid for the work they do?  Nope, that's not it.  They work, and they get paid.  They're upset because the grocery stores aren't paying enough of their medical costs.  Like most Americans, these union workers believe that it is their employer's responsibility to pay to keep them healthy.  An honest day's pay for an honest day's work isn't enough ... you have to keep them healthy too. 

Somehow we've come to believe that health insurance is never our own responsibility.  Auto insurance, fine.  Life insurance, no problem.  Homeowner's insurance, we'll pay it.  Health insurance, hey ... that's not my responsibility. 

This hasn't all happened by accident. It's all about power ... political power.  Our federal laws are full of roadblocks that prevent, or make it difficult for the individual to assume the responsibility for their own health care  insurance costs.  This is so because politicians don't want you to be responsible for your own health care.  They want you to be dependent, not independent.  If you have seen to your own health care needs then how is that politician going to control your vote?  He won't be able to tell you that his opponent is going to reduce your health benefits.  You have your own policy!  How is he going to do that?  And he can't buy your vote with promises of grand new coverage and benefits.  If you want those benefits you'll pay for them yourself!

Leftist politicians hate independent constituents.  People who control their own health care are independent, at least when it comes to health care.  This is why our laws are stacked against individually owned health insurance policies, and this is why socialized medicine is inevitable in the United States.

SCOOTERS

"Be bold, be free, be Bebop."  That's the slogan for another one of those companies that sell those three-wheeled scooters you see fat folks riding through the pastry aisles of your grocery store. 

New slogan:  "Be Bold, Be lazy, Be Bebop." 

OK, I know ... there are some people who actually need these machines because they've lost their mobility due to crippling injuries, arthritis or some other illness. Others have these machines because their gluttonous eating habits have made them so huge they just can't walk any distance at all.  Then there's the just plain lazy.  I've talked to the people who sell these machines, and the people who rent them in shopping malls and amusement parks.  They are of the opinion that many of the people who buy and rent these machines are just looking for a way to avoid walking.  In other words, they're slugs.  I wonder how long it takes for this laziness to change to dependence?

AND TODAY'S READING ASSIGNMENTS

An excellent overview of the Rush Limbaugh situation from Larry Shannon of Radio Daily News.  You really should read this, it's very well done.

Imagine that you've accused an NBA superstar of rape.  Then imagine that when investigators get their hands on your panties they find traces of semen from that NBA superstar ... and from someone else.  Oops. 

Thomas Sowell says that last week's recall election may be just the proof we need that California is crazy ... at least that portion of California where the upscale folks live.  They wanted Gray Davis to stay in office?  Say what?

Larry Kudlow says that conservatives are underestimating the significance of Arnold's win in California.  Count me among the under-estimators ...  then convince me.

In a speech last week Dick Cheney said "Terrorists are doing everything they can to gain even deadlier means of striking us. From the training manuals we found in the caves of Afghanistan to the interrogations of terrorists that we've captured, we have learned of their ambitions to develop or acquire chemical, biological or nuclear weapons."  Here's an excellent column following up on Cheney's words.

The deeper significance of Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory in California is just now beginning to dawn on the political establishment.

A victory for the First Amendment at the University of Alabama.  Read this column and tell me if you see some reflections of the United Nations in the policies of this university.

We have a nice little fight brewing at the University of North Carolina - Wilmington.  It seems some leftist (what else?) professor told a university-sponsored forum that she had friends in the terrorist network.  Now the professor is threatening to sue the student newspaper that reported her remarks. 

An incredible story from an Assyrian minister who went to Iraq before the war to work for peace.  Here he admits that he was wrong.  Some of you who doubt what we did in Iraq was right should read this.

NEALZ LINKS FOR NUZE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
World Net Daily
NewsMax
Wall Street Journal opinions
Washington Times
Washington Post
Real Clear Politics
Media Research Center
The Drudge Report
The Associated Press
SF Gate