TWO DAYS AND COUNTING

Starting to get some butterflies here.  We're two days away from what we hope to be a huge FairTax Rally in the streets of downtown Orlando, Florida.  The great folks at News Talk 580 WDBO put this one together for us.  It all starts at 10:00 Saturday morning on the steps of the Orlando City Hall!

So, why am I nervous?  Because of who's watching, that's why.  The very people that can make the FairTax plan a reality will be watching to see what kind of a crowd shows up on Saturday.  If it's meager, then they'll just tell themselves that this tax reform idea has no legs, and they'll wander off to look for something else.  If we have a huge crowd on hand ... 10,000  or more ... then we have their attention. 

Every single person counts.  The deadly attitude is "well, there will be plenty of people there, so I won't make much difference.  I'm going to sleep in."

We can do this folks!  But it only happens if the people of this country make it happen.  Congress is not going to give up this power on its own.  Every warm body at the rally on Saturday is a message to the folks inside the Beltway.

OH .. AND A NOTE TO THE CRITICS

As the FairTax idea gains strength, the opponents are starting to come out of the woodwork. Perhaps the most amusing type of opponent is the person who doesn't like the FairTax idea just because they don't like me.  I tell you all the time about those INGTLTYA emails.  (I'm never going to listen to you again).  Most of these emails come from someone who is upset because I don't (1) support their hatred of and fear of homosexuals; or, (2) haven't adopted their particular religious viewpoint as my own.  Of late these emails have also included the line "and I'm no longer a supporter of the FairTax."  Can you imagine being that childish?

But .. a request.  Would some "responsible" critic out there please write a column criticizing H.R. 25 without first rewriting it?  Many opponents love to cite the president's tax reform commission as being an opponent of the FairTax.  Well, they're right.  The commission did, indeed, have some harsh words about the workability of the FairTax, but only after first rewriting H.R. 25! 

Come on folks!  Criticize the FairTax the way the bill was written, not the you've rewritten it!

SURPRISED?  MAYBE WE HAD BETTER WAKE UP HERE

I don't know if you've noticed, but the Israeli army is having a rather tough time with Hezbollah.  In story after story you read that the Israeli army doesn't seem to be the awesome, feared fighting machine it once was, and that Hezbollah is showing no fear of the Israelis and putting up a stalwart fight.  Some reports I've read even say that Hezbollah is winning this confrontation - this war - and that it will soon be the Israelis who are looking for a cease fire; a cease fire they can use to regroup and consider their options.

Israel, at the urging of the world community, sowed the seeds for this current situation when they withdrew from Southern Lebanon years ago.  The Israelis responded to world opinion (usually a mistake) by pulling back without any agreement from either the terrorists in Hezbollah or in Lebanon.  The idea behind the pullback was that maybe, just maybe, Hezbollah and Lebanon would be content to honor the international border between the two countries and leave Israel in peace.

Fat chance.

Instead, Hezbollah remained loyal to the Islamic dream of a Middle East with no Israel.  They used the time to build its fortifications in Southern Lebanon, moving the bulk of them underground.  They used this time to build their military capability and to stash rockets and arms -- most of which were supplied by Iran with no small amount of help from Syria. 

When Iran and Hezbollah felt that the military buildup and the entrenchment was sufficient, they launched their provocations against Israel, knowing that Israel would respond. 

Muslims around the world are cheering Hezbollah on.  Not only Muslims, but a goodly number of anti-Semitics in this country who suffer from that strange form of dementia that causes one to blame every evil in their personal life and in the world on "those Jews."

I hope the rest of us are paying attention here, and I fear we are not.  This is much more than a battle between Israel and Hezbollah.  This is one front, one battle in World War III, the war between the West and radical Islam. 

Israel tried to do the right thing.  They withdrew.  They sought peace.  They asked nothing more to be left alone.  The Islamists in Hezbollah and their supporters and enablers in Lebanon, Syria and Iran saw this as a sign of weakness.  Israel is tired.  Israel doesn't want to fight any more.  Israel is weak.  Israel can be defeated.

These Islamic murderers see the same weakness in the United States.  Oh, to be sure, for a while they feared George Bush.  In George Bush they saw an American leader who understood their intentions and who was bent on their destruction.  Soon after Bush showed his resolve by invading Afghanistan you saw Muslim leaders starting to backtrack.  They were starting to retreat back into their holes ... until, that is, the American left stepped forward.

For American liberals, for the Nancy Pelosis, Ted Kennedys and Howard Deans of this world, the hatred of George Bush and the bitterness of the 2000 election just couldn't be overcome.  It mattered not that the president understood the danger presented by Islam, and was prepared to fight.  It only mattered that George Bush defeated their Damien, their precious Al Gore, and that Democratic honor had to be assuaged.  Bush had to be demonized.

As the Democrats intensified their attacks on George Bush over the war in Iraq, the Muslims started to see the weakness they were looking for.  Another Western weakness ripe for exploitation.

Right now Israel is paying the price for appeasement.  Some in Israel thought that there might be a better way .. .a way to live in peace with radical Islam.  They now know better.

Do we?

Now ... before you move on, read this Ann Coulter column.  Once you have you'll realize that we are, indeed, in a world war against radical Islam.  It's time for some folks to decide which side they want to support.

YOU DO KNOW THAT THE UNITED NATIONS WANTS TAXING AUTHORITY, DON'T YOU?

And if you don't know, why the hell not?  Isn't it about time we start paying attention here?

I was watching Lou Dobbs on CNN yesterday.  He had a special report on efforts by the United Nations to get taxing authority over U.S. citizens.  That's right .. you heard me.  The United Nations wants the authority to levy a "global tax" on U.S. citizens as a way of funding its operations.  The idea here is that if the U.N. can tax us directly, then it won't have to respond to Washington's demands or complaints out of a fear of losing U.S. funding.

What's more ... there are many in this country, exclusively Democrats by the way, who support the United Nations in this endeavor.

Much more on this later.  I just thought you would like to know.

HOWARD DEAN BEING DIVISIVE AGAIN

Yesterday the Prime Minister of a newly democratic Iraq spoke to the Congress. It was an historic event...just 3 1/2 years since its liberation, a newly elected leader of a free Iraq comes to the United States to speak.  But rather than pausing to take it all in, Howard Dean decided it was time to stir the pot.

Dean, you see,  picked up on the fact that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has condemned Israel's offensive against Hezbollah.  So Dean called him an anti-Semite.  He's probably right....al-Maliki probably hates Israel just as much as every other leader in the Arab world.  But that's not the point.  Like most Democrats, Dean only pulls out the anti-Semite card when it suits him.  On one day of the week Dean will be all for reining in Israel and appeasing the Islamic terrorists; on another day he's the biggest Israel supporter there is. 

Dean wasn't done.  Remember Katherine Harris?  The woman with all the makeup that was the secretary of state down in Florida during the 2000 election?  Yeah..her.  Anyway, she's running for Senate in Florida.  She really doesn't have much of a chance in the election, but she's sure giving it the ole college try.  

Anyway, yesterday Dean made a speech in Florida comparing Harris to Joseph Stalin. How nice.  Then, after his Harris / Stalin comparison, he accuses Republicans and President Bush of being divisive.  Dr. Dean should be throwing stones from his glass house.  Doesn't accusing somebody of being an anti-Semite and calling someone Joseph Stalin sound pretty divisive to you?

WORLD DOESN'T RESPECT BUSH

CBS News and the New York Times have released a new poll.  According to the poll, 60% of Americans think the president is not respected by world leaders.  First of all, this is a poll that was designed to do nothing more than to give CBS and The New York Times a good Bush-bashing headline they could use.  Besides, the impression 6 in 10 Americans have is clearly wrong.

Maybe some world leaders don't respect Bush, but they fear him...and they listen when he speaks.  Just ask Kadaffi down in Libya.  Once he saw Bush give Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq, and then invade when he didn't Kadaffi coughed up his WMD program right away.  It was like taking candy from a baby.  So much for Kadaffi's years of anti-American statements. 

And what about those other world leaders that don't respect Bush.  If they didn't respect him, would they constantly be coming to see him?  Would Great Britain and Australia still have troops in Iraq?  Would the prime minister of Japan be visiting?  Hardly.  Oh they respect him plenty.  And besides, the presidency of the United States is not a worldwide popularity contest.  The world loved Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton  ... and as they were being loved they were busy appeasing those who hate us.  Result?  Iran and 9/11.

This whole 'the world hates us' bit is a fantasy of the media and the American left.  The world loves America.  They love our culture, our products, our music and our movies.  Too bad so many Democrats don't.

CHICAGO RAISES MINIMUM WAGE TO $10

Wal-Mart greeter workin' the flair

The Chicago City Council has passed a "living wage" bill.  The law requires all retailers with over $1 billion in annual sales and 90,000 square feet of space to pay its workers at least $10 an hour and spend $3 an hour on fringe benefits.  Now, with those kind of numbers as a threshold, you know exactly who that bill is aimed at: Wal-Mart.  Target is also caught up in it...but that's about it.

Setting aside the fact that every time the minimum wage is raised it kills jobs, why stop at $10?  Why not $11?  Surely those hard-working Americans deserve more.  Why not make it $15 an hour?  Then everybody would have a great job!  The answer, of course, is that if you raise the minimum wage too high, then the company won't be able to hire enough workers to be competitive and do the job.  If the law says everybody has to make $10 an hour, then the prices are going to go up.  Fewer people will shop there.  And so on down the line.

And just how is this fair to Wal-Mart and Target?  What about stores that have $900 million in annual sales and their stores are only 89,000 square feet?  Why should they get to pay under $10?  Once again, government steps in, attempting to impose economic fascism and set wages.

But here is what is really going to happen.

Wal-Mart doesn't have any stores in Chicago proper, but they're planning on building them.  Perhaps now Wall-Mart will bal and the people who live inside Chicago will have to commute to the suburbs to go shopping.  Perhaps Target will make good on its threat to close their stores and take a walk entirely...leaving everyone who works there without a job and the people without a place to shop.

Nice going Chicago...any other companies you want to run out of town?

This living wage nonsense is growing.  By definition it's economic fascism.  Politicians pandering to the voters ... and killing the goose that laid the golden capitalist egg.

FEMA ESCORT REQUIRED TO TALK TO KATRINA VICTIMS?

If you're a journalist, don't try interviewing a Katrina victim living in FEMA temporary housing. That's right, our government will not permit you to visit the trailer parks unless you are escorted by a FEMA agent. Seriously? I knew FEMA was a big pile of red-tape and bureaucratic non-sense, but what is the point of this? What can Katrina victims say at this point, that we haven't already heard? Additionally, since when does the government have the right to tell independent journalists and citizens who they can talk to, investigate and question? Residents are being ordered by security guards to go back into their trailers when confronted by journalists, and reporters are being escorted out of people's homes if caught. The government says that it is "protecting people's privacy" by imposing this order. Oh that's funny—so the way to protect our privacy is to limit your freedom of speech. I am all for privacy folks, but not if it comes at the price of government restrictions and regulations of freedom.

YOUR AVIATION INSIGHT FOR TODAY

Basic Flying Rules:

  1. Try to stay in the middle of the air.

  2. Do not go near the edges of it.

  3. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of  ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more
  difficult to fly in the edges.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

When it comes to throwing a party, you can count on a redneck knowing the right tool for the right job. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

I know that you check out Nealz Nuze every day.  Love you for that.  But you really need to add Michellemalkin.com to your list.  Michelle is amazing.  Add this one to your bookmarks.

Victor Davis Hanson has a column today you don't want to miss.  He says Americans have come to expect the good life, without realizing just how fragile it all is.  Hanson is trying to remind people that it could all go away with the next terrorist attack. 

Here's another victory in the war against eminent domain abuse.  The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled (unanimously, by the way.  How about that?) that economic development isn't a good enough reason for the government to take somebody's property under eminent domain.  Good.

Two-thirds of the attendees at the Television Critics Association event left the room in protest when Roger Ailes of Fox News took to the stage.  Evidently they were protesting Fox News' alleged conservative bent.  Ailes didn't mind, since he went on to remind people Fox News has more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined. 

Editor and Publisher magazine is continuing their jihad against Ann Coulter....as they are now highlighting another tiny paper that has dropped her column.  A small Greensboro, North Carolina weekly newspaper has axed her column.  I'm sure that will put her in the poorhouse.

The Senate is getting ready to consider a bill that would allow drilling for oil and natural gas off the Gulf Coast.  Even though we're talking about 1 billion barrels of oil here, expect the environmentalist nuts to come out against it in full force.

Robert Novak has some advice for Republicans that may be struggling in this fall's election.  The GOP isn't capitalizing on the judicial nominations that are being held up by Democrats.  Novak says they need to highlight the Democratic obstruction.

The clamor by the U.N., the international community and the mainstream media is for a diplomatic solution to the war between Israel and Hezbollah.  But as Cal Thomas so astutely points out, there is no diplomatic solution to this war.  The solution is the total destruction of Hezbollah.

John Kerry recently said that if he had won the presidential election, the war in the Middle East would not have broken out.  Ann Coulter examines The Poodle's statements and compares them to some of his campaign promises from 2 years ago.  Entertaining as always.

Larry Elder takes President Bush to the woodshed for pandering to the NAACP in a speech he gave there.  Elder says Bush blew it and accuses him of pandering and being condescending.  He's right on the mark.

2008 presidential campaign mania has finally taken hold of Washington and people are already speculating about who will be running.  Jonah Goldberg notes an interesting trend already...people seem to be concerned about "competence."

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