Wednesday, October 18, 2006
 BUSH AND TALK RADIO
Yesterday The New York Times ran a story about a meeting between President Bush and five radio talk show hosts at the White House. Suddenly this is a news story, though the meeting took place a month ago. There was nothing "secret" about it, as some have alleged, and the talk show hosts who participated in the meeting (myself included) have been talking about it on the air. I guess it takes the New York Times to somehow legitimize the event.I was interviewed for the Times story, though not quoted. The interviewer seemed to be particularly interested in one thing: Were we coached on what we should say on the air. I told the interviewer exactly what I've been telling you. Never, not once, did President Bush either ask us what our position was on a particular issue, or ask us to adopt or pursue any particular position. All he did was explain his philosophy and positions on the major issues he's dealing with. Perhaps that's why I wasn't quoted in the article. I wasn't saying what the New York Times wanted to hear. Right now the conventional wisdom seems to be that all five of us were there to receive our marching orders from the White House; our instructions as to how we should go back to our microphones and push the Republican base to get out there and leave the Republicans in control of the congress. Well .. that's what people want to believe, I guess, and in today's world it's more about what people want to believe is true than what is actually true. 
DEMOCRATS GET A PASS ON BIGOTRY
How is it that when a Democrat says something bigoted about a black Republican, the media largely gives them a pass? Yet when a Republican says anything remotely controversial....and barely bigoted....they get run out of Washington D.C.? Case in point: Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic Whip. Hoyer called Michael Steele, the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and the Republican candidate for Senate from that state "slavish" in his support of the Bush administration.
In other words, he called Steele a slave for supporting the president. This is a favorite sport of the Democrats...any black person who doesn't support the Democratic Party and the left is an Uncle Tom. A traitor. Or in this case, "slavish." But while this story is making a bit of news this morning...it will quickly fade. Along with all of the other bigoted statements of Democrats over the years, it will be swept under the rug by a willing mainstream media.
Just like the time Robert Byrd used the n-word on CNN. And just like the time Hillary Clinton said Republicans were running the House like a plantation. The media ignores it. It's okay because they're Democrats. But let somebody like Trent Lott say the country would be better off with Strom Thurmond as president. Lott barely held onto his political life.
Once again, in the media, there are two standards: one for Republicans and one for Democrats. Per the media bias template, Democrats always get a pass. Hoyer is no different.
THE MARK FOLEY NON-SCANDAL
The numbers are in and as predicted, nobody much cares about the Mark Foley scandal. In a recent poll [pdf], only about 25% of voters says Mark Foley will be an issue in how they vote this fall...and those must all be Democrats. Give it 3 weeks and that number will shrink even more. Surprised? You shouldn't be.
From the start, this non-scandal has been solely a media obsession. Nobody outside of Washington D.C. or the halls of the mainstream media really cares about a disgraced, obscure former Congressman from Florida. There was some concern over the Republican leadership's handling of Foley...but that has largely faded. People just don't care.
So what do they care about? Iraq, national security and the economy....in that order. Republicans have a lot more to worry about with Iraq than they do Mark Foley. If Foley represents the hopes and dreams of the Democratic Party on Election Day, they're betting on the wrong horse. It's not going to matter one bit how people vote for their member of Congress. After all, it's not Mark Foley or Dennis Hastert on the ballot outside of their districts.
But there's 3 weeks left....the media and the Democrats will come up with some other scandal to push. They will do this while they ignore other larger scandals, like Harry Reid's questionable real estate transactions and misuse of campaign funds. Imagine if a Republican had done what Reid did...they would be kicked out of office.
Turnout will determine whether or not the GOP holds onto the House and the Senate...not the dirty instant messages to a page by some creepy ex-congressman. "DRUG DEAL GONE WRONG"  Last week a family of four was shot, execution style, by a roadside in Florida. Two adults, two small children. There are hints now that drugs may have been involved.
This morning while listening to the news on the radio I heard a phrase that I think all of us hear several times a day. A "drug deal gone wrong" had lead to more deaths. In the meantime we learned yesterday that marijuana use in Great Britain has gone down since the possession of small amounts of marijuana was all but legalized. That's right, the penalty for marijuana possession was lowered drastically, and marijuana use goes down. There are no shortage of studies out there that show conclusively that the best way to deal with drug use in this country is through treatment, not through criminalization. Comprehensive studies have shown that we could reduce drug use by about the same amount for about one-tenth the cost if we would simply legalize the drugs and treat the users. Just what is the matter with this proposal? We legalize the drugs. We eliminate most of the law enforcement problem. We don't have to listen to "drug deal gone wrong" stories on the radio in the morning. We then use just a fraction of the money we're using to enforce our drug laws on treatment programs. The result? Fewer murders and more people off drugs. But noooooooooo. We have to go out there and find those drug users and punish them! We'll take the high crime rates, the dead cops, families with bullets in their heads lying beside Florida turnpikes. That's all acceptable as long as we can punish those people who use the drugs. By the way, voters in Nevada are going to vote on legalizing marijuana on November 7th. The vote will mean little. Even if the Nevada voters go for it, the feds will step in SO -- YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN? Fine. Here's one that merits your consideration. His name is Chuck Ahner, and he's running for the 3rd Congressional seat from the state of Kansas. Ahner has several things going for him. First, he's not an incumbent. He hasn't been sitting up there in Washington voting for record budgets and growing the size of the Imperial Federal Government. He didn't vote for the anti-free speech McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Monstrosity. He hasn't been complicit in turning a blind eye to the Mexican invasion. Plus ... Chuck Ahner is campaigning on the FairTax! A lot of you are asking what you can do to give the FairTax a boost in this election. Well here's a chance if you happen to live in Kansas' 3rd Congressional District. You can replace a Democrat with a Republican who will push for passage of the FairTax once he arrives on Capitol Hill. Here's his website ... give it a look. REDNECK SCRAP BOOK So what is this thing? Maybe it's a camper and a barn so you can bring your livestock along. More in the Redneck Scrap Book. READING ASSIGNMENTS
Hillary Clinton is finally admitting what people have been saying for years....that she wasn't named after Sir Edmund Hillary, as she has claimed since her husband first ran for president. She now says her mom made it all up, since the famous mountain climber wasn't in the public eye until 6 years after Hillary was born.
A 10-member commission of experts, including former Secretary of State James Baker, is expected to recommend a complete strategy change for Iraq. In fact, Baker himself says Iraq is in a "helluva mess." That's not good.
Sensing that he's going to win, some Democrats are starting to support Joe Lieberman for re-election. Among them: U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford. I guess since it's obvious Ned Lamont isn't going to win, people are realizing Joe will be around for years to come.
Speaking of Joe Lieberman, he's warning Democrats that they need to change their ways. He says he would support their control of the House and the Senate, as long as they change the tone in Washington. Good luck on that one.
A new liberal radio network is being formed, founded by some of the same people that started Air America. Here's some advice for this time around, guys: don't dictate to radio stations what they can and cannot air and focus on putting an entertaining product on the air instead of worrying about politics.
According to recent polls, somewhere between 1 and 2 million Republicans are planning on not voting November 7th. Tony Blankley says Republicans would be stupid not to vote, since staying home and not voting is the same thing as voting for the Democrat.
Jack Kelly asks an important question: why is North Korea our problem? South Korea and Japan can defend themselves just fine. In fact, South Korea has twice as many people, 24 times as much money and a decent military. Let them deal with North Korea, says Kelly. Interesting take.
Bill Kristol's new column in the Weekly Standard blasts away at George W. Bush's foreign policy, which he calls Clintonian in its combination of weakness and wishful thinking. Those are pretty harsh words, coming from a conservative Republican and all.
With the prospect of Nancy Pelosi taking over as Speaker of the House on the horizon, Professor Mike Adams is setting aside several thousand dollars to buy several guns that Pelosi wants to ban. And don't forget a new gun safe, either.
John Stossel looks at a recent case where a woman in upstate New York got Congress to keep a tariff in place on dog collars and leashes. Stossel says all tariffs do is stick it to American consumers and workers in other countries. Why isn't this story getting more attention? According to a new Homeland Security report, things aren't all that friendly on our border with Mexico. Our guys are outgunned by their guys ... and yes, they are shooting. Meanwhile ... China gets it. They're building a fence along their border with North Korea. What if the Republicans actually do retain control of the House and the Senate? The left is already getting their excuses and explanations ready. The Bush crowd is going to rig the election, just as they did in 2000 and 2004. Tony Blankley says that the Republicans would be stupid to sit home and not vote in three weeks. Republicans would be stupid to sit home and not vote in three weeks Do you think Neal needs an iGallop, or does he just need to watch this ad for it over and over again? [video] | 
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