Tuesday -- August 23, 2005
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THANKS, DAYTON!
The turnout at Books & Co. in Dayton last night for signings of The FairTax Book was nothing less than totally spectacular. When I arrived I was told that the fire marshal was present and was starting to make noises about locking the doors because there were just too many people there. When the signings were done I was told that the crowd numbered nearly 1000 and that I signed about 700 books for customers. Before I left I signed much of the remainder of their stock, so Dayton area residents can still go by Books & Company on E. Stroop Rd. to get a copy! Will The FairTax Book make it to No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller's list for a third week in a row? Hey, we've been there two weeks in a row, and that is fantastic enough. Now we'll just see how long we can keep the book on the list, let alone No. 1. I must say that the success of the book has made our chances at a three-peat somewhat slim. Many bookstores across the nation (and virtually all of them at Hartsfield International Airport) are out of the book and waiting to be restocked from the publisher. You can't sell books you don't have, and you don't make it to No. 1 in any given week unless you sell books. THE FAIRTAX ON THE AIR
It is also very gratifying that people want to call the show and discuss the FairTax virtually every hour I'm on the air. The book has brought many new listeners to the show, and to Nealz Nuze, and it's only natural that they want to discuss who brought them to the dance. It would be unwise, thought, to turn the radio show into a continuous forum on the FairTax. Many of my listeners have heard all they need to about this incredible tax reform proposal, and need no further convincing. So please forgive me if I try to make the show interesting to all of my listeners by continuing to hit the other issues and oddities that find their way into the news and onto the Internet. [Hey, if you want to get into a discussion of the FairTax, the Talkmaster Yahoo group has a lively ongoing debate. -ww] SOMETIMES THE CRITICS ARE DEAD ON
Yesterday a listener wrote to tell me that his support for the FairTax was tempered somewhat by my strong and sometimes impatient responses to callers discussing the subject. He's right. Dead on, in fact. I'm sure he was referring to a caller who mentioned no less than four times that he had a graduate degree in tax law, and that he just knew that corporations pay taxes. For some reason this highly educated individual just couldn't grasp the idea that corporations don't pay taxes ... they collect taxes from customers, shareholders and employees and pass them off to the government. This tax lawyer couldn't bring himself to recognize a basic economic fact that virtually every economist (not working for the government) will readily admit. Let's just say that I was less than cordial to this esteemed tax lawyer ... and that was indeed my bad. So .. to whoever wrote me that email, thanks. I needed that. AUSTIN AGGIES FIGHT! The Talkmaster is wandering into enemy territory on Wednesday night. Not only is Austin, Texas the hotbed of Texas liberalism, but it is the home of the T.U. Tea sips. My brother and sister are both Sips, so I guess there's nothing really fundamentally wrong with that ... but I am sure going to need some Aggie support when I head to Book People on North Lamar for my book signing at 7:00 tomorrow night. We'll turn it into a yell practice for the FairTax! Wear maroon! |
IN TODAY'S VENT
Today's "Vent" from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution contains the following item: "Neal Boortz's biography failed to mention his stint as a furniture salesman at the downtown Rich's many years ago." Sorry, but I never was a furniture salesman at Rich's. So much for AJC fact checking. Try again. Read more of the Vent to see that presidents are responsible for gas prices. And these people are eligible to vote! CALLING ISLAM A "PEACEFUL" RELIGION Just a thought ... but when you constantly refer to a religion who's core writings call for the use of force to subjugate all "unbelievers" a "peaceful religion," aren't you actually encouraging and helping them to achieve their goal by stealth? Just wondering. Of course if you're a talk show host, and you identify Islam for what it is, you always run the risk of being fired. THE FOURTH WORLD WAR
Despite the fact that the mainstream media will ignore it, as will most of the government-educated myrmidons in our society, George Bush said something profound yesterday. Speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Salt Lake City, Utah the president compared the War On Terror to the other world wars. Naturally, this will upset the Michael Moore types to no end...they believe there is no war on terrorism because there is no terrorist threat. But Bush nailed it perfectly:
"In a single lifetime, many of you have seen liberty spread from Germany and Japan to Eastern Europe to Latin America to Southeast Asia and Africa and beyond. The generation of men and women who defend our freedom today is taking its rightful place among the heroes of our nation's history."
We have been engaged in a World War for quite some time, but only since September 11th have we begun to fight. It is World War IV, the war on Islamic terrorism. So what was World War III? That was the cold war...you know, communism and the Soviets and all of that.
However, unlike the previous three wars, we have a news media, a Democratic party and a large segment of the population that refuses to admit we are at war or that we're even threatened! They are in denial. To them, September 11, 2001 was something that happened a long time ago or from afar...not the kind of thing they have to worry about. Sadly, it's going to take an Islamic bomber walking into a shopping mall, a sporting event or some other crowd in their town and pulling the rip cord in the name of Allah for them to get the message.
At any rate, nice to see the president calling this one right.
PAT ROBERTSON AND HUGO CHAVEZ
Hugo Chavez, close personal friend of Jimmy Carter, is the communist dictator of Venezuela, or as the media likes to call him "President" Hugo Chavez. Anyway, he's big trouble. Really big trouble. This guy bashes George Bush and the United States at every turn, including threatening statements as well as threats to cut off the oil.
As a member of OPEC, Venezuela is a large exporter of oil to the United States. They're also a large exporter of terrorism to the rest of the world. So with all of this in mind, enter religious zealot Pat Robertson, who decided to take a break from thumping his Bible long enough to weigh in on Hugo Chavez.
Speaking on his TV show, Robertson correctly said Venezuela was a launching pad for communism and Muslim extremism. He then went on to say that if Hugo Chavez were so worried about the United States assassinating him, perhaps we should just go ahead and do it. Cheaper than a war, he says.
Pat Robertson is wrong. There are many ways to deal with Chavez without sending in a team to rid the world of his miserable presence. We don't need that rap hanging over our country. If we didn't waste Saddam, how do we excuse killing Chavez? Having said that, I want you to watch the media on this one. The story will not be that Pat Robertson, TV preacher and religious fanatic, sounds off on foreign policy. Nope, that won't be how it plays at all.
The story will be that Pat Robertson, former Republican presidential candidate, member of the right wing and follower of George Bush made those statements. Every effort will be made to make Robertson look like a spokesperson for the entire Republican party and the White House.
By the way, you sure do see the phrase "right-wing" in the press a lot lately. But for some strange reason, you don't see the words "left-wing" very much. I wonder why?
LATEST ON ABLE DANGER
The Able Danger story continues to get more and more interesting with every passing day. First, the story went, a military intelligence group known as 'Able Danger' said they had been tracking a couple of the 9/11 hijackers, including ringleader Mohammed Atta, a year before 9/11. That little revelation would have completely rewritten the history of the events leading up to the attacks.
But then, out comes the 9/11 Commission to say nope, we read all the Able Danger documents...no mention of Atta. So then the Able Danger people started to look a bit shaky. The allegations originally came from Congressman Curt Weldon, who was selling a book. Did he just make things up? Well, read on.
Now we've heard from the Pentagon. They say their review shows that there is no evidence that Atta was identified prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Strike two.
But now there's more. Now we have a Navy captain. the second military officer to come forward and say he knows something about this. He says they had Atta pegged around January or February of 2000. Of course, that intelligence wasn't shared with the FBI because the Clinton administration didn't allow it. Google "Jamie Gorelick"
This isn't going away....and there's more to this than meets the eye. What we know for sure is that the 9/11 Commission was a complete waste of time. Why wasn't Able Danger brought up at the hearings? Was it because they were wasting time with testimony by Richard Clarke and Sandy Pants Berger, or trying to protect the Clinton administration?
If the 9/11 Commission is at fault here, expect the media to bury it. Meanwhile ... we await the next fusillade of reports about Bush's national guard service.
CELEBRITY WORSHIP UPDATE
Despite the fact that we are currently fighting a major war and our government continues to confiscate more and more of the wealth of its citizens, the mainstream media would like you to know the following:
--Rapper Sean Combs, who previously had changed his name to Puff Daddy, then P. Diddy, now just wants to be known as "Diddy." He also says he wears white because he is a child of God. Aren't you glad that you know this?
--Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's divorce will become final on October 2. Can you wait? By the way, did you know that roughly half of all marriages end in divorce? Why is theirs any different? Was it ever really a marriage, as you and I consider marriages, in the first place?
---Olivia Newton-John's boyfriend is missing. Tragic, but he's been gone for 2 months. That usually means he's not coming back. Anyone want to volunteer to be next up to the plate?
There...feel better now? You're up to date on all of the things the media finds vastly more important than such insignificant things like the War on Terror, the Iraqi Constitution, and so on. REDNECK SCRAP BOOK Proof yet again that there's more than one way to solve a problem...the right way and the redneck way. More in the Redneck Scrap Book. READING ASSIGNMENTS
Political correctness strikes again...the online thesaurus.com has pulled the entry for "Arab." Something about people being offended. How long before the entire dictionary is sanitized?
Eric Rudolph's mother says he's not a monster. Sorry lady...too late. He is...and he's your kid. Deal with it.
George Will says all of the whining about high gas prices is just that--whining. Energy prices aren't all that high...especially adjusted for inflation over the last 25 years.
Military families upset at all of the media coverage of Cindy Sheehan have started their own protest of sorts...a caravan called "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" They're headed for Crawford. We'll see if the media gives them as much coverage. I doubt it.
A scientist who doesn't buy the environmentalist line on global warming has quit a panel that is working on a report for the Bush administration. The reason? Nobody is listening to him. Too bad.
Quick...stop what you're doing and listen up. Barbra Streisand has recorded a new album...and surprise! It has an anti-war, Bush-bashing tune on it. How predictable.
Air America is trying to wash its hands over the loan it got from the Boys and Girls club....by saying it happened under previous ownership. However, they are saying Bill Clinton and Al Gore tried to raise money for them. You know, a real radio network makes money instead of borrowing or begging for it.
"International experts" say there is no proof Iran is building a nuclear arms program. Right. Then what are the nuclear reactors for? Oh...right. Peaceful means and all that. Sure.
With the Supreme Court nomination hearings just 2 weeks away, David Limbaugh says it's time for a national debate over not just Roberts, but the proper role of the judiciary. Good idea.
Now that oil is over $60 a barrel, which isn't a record by the way, people are calling the oil situation a "crisis." But Thomas Sowell wonders if it really is a crisis at all. Intern Heather's Reading Assignments: Skin, Skin and Harley-bars... first it was Calvin then Abercrombie & Fitch now it is Dolce & Gabbana. To counteract the desolation of youth's innocence, visit here. Sean takes to the Penn on Iran ... now if we are lucky, he will stay there. He seems to think they know who he is; through all their bootlegged and black marketed American DVDs, no less. What's dumber than running with the bulls? Running with the bulls AND participating in street fights. Philly inmates give potty-talk a new, yet strangely more literal meaning. Surrendering chastity tassels in place of non-strategically placed beads and traditional skirts. Just days before the annual reed dance ceremony in which the king gets a new wife. Swaziland has nearly the highest percentage of AIDS cases per country size. God blessed Texas... and a fallen hero's family. |