TIME MAGAZINE ... IS THERE ANY MORE DOUBT?

100 most influential people. Bush ignored. Kate Moss is there. Barack Obama is there. Rosie O'Donnell is there. George Bush is not. This is an intentional slap in the face of George Bush .. and the U.S. Presidency. I don't care who is in the Oval Office, by default U.S. presidents are influential .. wielding vast influence around the world. One word from the president in a press conference or speech can influence people to take actions in virtually any country in the world. The Democrats at this very moment are being forced to back off from their demands for immediate surrender in Iraq. The position they're adopting has been heavily influenced by the actions of George Bush. Here's we're talking about leaving or staying in Iraq ... and Time Magazine is telling us that the person who can influence this decision is less influential than Sasha Baron Cohen?

Actually ... this might be a blessing. Every once in a while we need a stark reminder of the bias of the mainstream media. I think this pretty much does it.

LAST NIGHT'S PRESIDENTIAL "DEBATE"

I thought that today on the show we might have a little fun with some of the questions that were asked on last night's MSNBC "debate" featuring the Republican presidential candidates. Not really sure what we're going to do with these .... but here they are!

• In the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, just 22 percent believe this country is on the right track. Mayor Giuliani, how do we get back to Ronald Reagan's "morning in America"?




• Most of the public pessimism today has to do with Iraq. How -- what would you need, as commander in chief, to win the war in Iraq?
  

• Recent polls in the Islamic world reveal a sea of hostility toward the United States, feeding what General Petraeus calls the central front of al Qaeda in Iraq. How do we win this war if every dead terrorist is so easily replaced?

• How do you deal with the problem, revealed in a recent Zogby poll, that in countries that are moderate, you mentioned -- like Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, another Islamic country -- 10, 12 percent of the people support us; the rest are angry at us. Doesn't that create a sea of recruitment opportunity for our enemy? And how -- I'm just asking, do we have to reduce that temperature of hatred before we win the war, or simply continue to fight the terrorists?

• I'd like to get your views about how you balance loyalty and accountability. Would you have fired Don Rumsfeld before last November?

• Do you think a general shake-up in this administration's Cabinet right now would be good for the administration?

• Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson said that Iran has already committed acts of war. Do you agree? And secondly, as part of that, what's your trip wire for a U.S. strike in Iran?

• Imagine you're president of the United States and this is a likely or possible scenario, certainly plausible. You get a call from the prime minister of Israel, the prime minister of Israel, who's now Ehud Olmert, saying Israel's about to strike Iran's nuclear sites and he wants U.S. help. What do you say?

Who do you think was most impressive in the May 3rd presidential debate? Sam Brownbeck Jim Gilmore Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Duncan Hunter John McCain Ron Paul Mitt Romney Tom Tancredo Tommy Thompson

• When speaking about Osama bin Laden last week, Governor Romney said, quote, "It's not worth moving heaven and earth, spending billions of dollars, just trying to catch one person." Senator McCain called that naive. Who's right?

• Sarah (sp) from Arlington, Virginia, wants to know if you would comfortable with Tom Tancredo, a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, as head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

• Should we change our Constitution which we believe is divinely inspired -- -- to allow men like Mel Martinez, the chairman of your party, born in Cuba, great patriot, senator from Florida, and Arnold Schwarzenegger to stand here some night?

• Daniel Dukovnic (sp) from Walnut Creek, California, wants to know: What do you dislike most about America?

• Do you believe global warming exists?

• David Diamond from Memphis writes in, "Do you have a plan to solve the shortage of organs donated for transplant?"

• Maggie from Highland Park, Illinois, wants to know if you consider yourself a compassionate conservative, like President Bush.

• If you were president, would you work to phase out the IRS?

• Would the day that Roe v. Wade is repealed be a good day for Americans?

• Would you support the use of public funds for abortion? [edited]

• We're in the house of Ronald Reagan. Every cab driver in America knew what Ronald Reagan stood for: defeat communism abroad, reduce big government at home. Can you restore that kind of unity of purpose?

• How do you unify the country the way Reagan did, a good portion of the country?

• How do you reconcile this moral -- moral leadership kind of role of conservatism with the very libertarian strain of conservatism, the Barry Goldwater conservatism that you represent? How do you put together what he just said with what you believe in a unified national purpose?

• What do you say to Roman Catholic bishops who would deny communion to elected officials who support abortion rights?

• Congressman Hunter, Governor Schwarzenegger -- who is here tonight -- has won the state twice by downplaying partisanship and taking centrist positions on the environment, immigration, abortion. Is that the way to win for Republicans?

• Do you want to keep [Karl Rove] in the White House if you get elected president as the president's chief political operative?

• Has the increased influence of Christian conservatives in your party been good for it?

• What's with your party and all this corruption?

• A through F, how would you rate the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war?

• Is racism still a problem in our society? And can a president do anything about it?

• David Kim (sp) from here in California wants to know, beside yourself, who do you think should be the Republican nominee for president of the United States, and why?

• Anyone with disagree with the strong anti-illegal immigration position?

• Kenyu Thomas (sp) from Honolulu, Hawaii, wants to know if you watched Al Gore's environmental documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."

• Bob Hussey (sp) from Minnesota writes that perhaps the most important skill a good president must have is the ability to make good, sound decisions, often in a crisis situation. Please cite an example when you had to make a decision in crisis.

• This question comes from Malika (sp) in Washington, DC. Women are the fastest growing prison population. Most are mothers who are non-violent, first-time offenders. What will you do to address the issue of mothers behind bars and the children left behind?

• We have Mrs. Reagan here. The camera will not focus on her, but I will tell you, it will now focus on you. Mrs. Reagan wants to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. Will that progress under your administration?

• I want each candidate to mention a tax he'd like to cut, in addition to the Bush tax cuts, keeping them in effect.

• Senator McCain, you said you plan to appoint a Democrat to a major Cabinet post. Tell us some of the Democrats you've got in mind. We'll give you bonus points if you give us a name other than Senator Lieberman.

• Ryan from Los Angeles wants you to name one thing that the federal government does really well and one thing that it does poorly.

• Do you believe in evolution?

• Robert Dietricht (sp) from Towson, Maryland, wants to know which Cabinet official would be at the top of the list of those you'd like to carry into your administration if you're elected.

• He wants to know, what is the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'a Muslim?

• Carrie (sp) from Connecticut asks, do you trust the mainstream media?

• A reader wants to know if your personal religious beliefs influence your foreign policy thinking.

• Jessie (sp) from Madison wants to know, what do you consider to be your most significant weakness as a candidate for the president of the United States?

• In light of the scandals plaguing the current administration and its allies, involving corruption and cronyism, which mistakes have you learned not to repeat?

• Will you work to protect women's rights, as in fair wages and reproductive choice?

• I want you to explain it and defend it: a national tamper-proof ID card.

• Do you think Scooter Libby should be pardoned?

• Let me ask you a question which has grabbed a lot of Americans personally, the Terri Schaivo case. Again, it was a question of whether the United States -- the U.S. Congress should have intervened and passed a law to advise the appellate court whether to act or not in this case, the district court it was. Terri Schaivo, should Congress have acted or let the family make the decision, the husband?

• Seriously, would it be good for America to have Bill Clinton back living in the White House?

• How will you be different in any way from President George W. Bush?

Any thoughts as to the best question? The most insipid? Questions not asked that should have been asked? All in all, not bad. One question that I personally would have liked to have been there and had the opportunity to respond to the question about what I dislike most about America.

It's Friday, and I'm feeling lazy .. but here are just a few of the questions I would have asked if I were given the chance.

• The government of the country of Angola has an official representative in Washington. The government of the State of Arkansas does not. Do you see this as a problem? Could this be a contributing factor in the immense shift of power we've seen from the local to the federal level?
  

• Can you speak for sixty seconds on the "Irish Miracle?"
  

• Estimates vary on the cost of tax compliance in this country from $300 to $500 billion a year. Do you have any plans to reduce the burden our present tax system places on our economy?
  

• What percentage of all federal income taxes are paid by those in the top 1% of income earners? What percentage of the total income do the top 1% earn?
  

• Are you familiar with the FairTax? If the FairTax were passed by the congress, would you sign the bill?
  

• The competitive forces of the free marketplace have led to improvements and innovation in virtually every area of commerce. Why, then, wouldn't competition in our educational marketplace return the same rewards?
  

• What would you do to decrease the power of government employee unions?
  

• Do you believe that our founding fathers intended for this country to become a democracy?
  

• I'm not so interested in whether or not you know the difference between Shi's and Sunni Muslims as I am in whether or not you understand the difference between a democracy and a country based on the rule of law. Can you explain that difference?

It is interesting to note that on a poll conducted by Drudge Ron Paul, a Libertarian, came in third to Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. I like Paul finishing ahead of McCain. It's nice to have libertarian thought injected into these debates. It's just sad that the Libertarians evidently can't be counted on to defend this country against Islamic fascism.

Enough ... we're getting too serious here.

BURGER KING REIGNS

It seems that when the Queen of England took a little carriage ride through Colonial Williamsburg. Somehow the people lining the route got their hands on hundreds of Burger King paper crowns .. and were wearing them. Nice touch.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

You might have redneck parents if...more in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Neal's guest today, John Stossel, talking about his book Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel--Why Everything You Know Is Wrong

Didn't catch the debate? Here's a transcript, because I know you are so excited to read it!

Newsbusters says that the questions were silly. I don't know ... sometimes you can take a silly question and turn it to your advantage.

Hypocritical Hillary has done a 180 on the Iraq War. Now she wants to strip the President's right to authorize war.

When it comes to the Iraq war, Charles Krauthammer shows that liberals are trying rewrite their voting history and decision making.

Florida fights to gain "first in the South" status for the presidential primary. South Carolina is set to retaliate.

So far on Drudge Report, Mitt Romney hit a homerun in the "Reagan Derby."

Chavez is on a roll! First he took the oil fields, then television stations, and now he is on to the banks. Is there anyone that can stop this man?

The Left is trying to control our thoughts in the classrooms, on the radio, in other forms of media, and now they want to punish you for anything that challenges their "progressive

People just don't seem to like Perky Katie! Let's worry about this for a few moments .. and then move on.

Peggy Noonan calls the Republican presidential lineup "An incomplete field."

Mark Hemingway wonders if we can just decide to eliminate stupid religious questions from the rest of the presidential campaign.

Did you know that Democrats are trying to shift funds from our intelligence efforts --- keeping an eye on Islamic terrorists --- to studying global warming? Yup! Seems to be true!

If you're getting your mom a box of chocolates for Mother's Day, maybe these aren't the appropriate ones to choose.

19-year-old UGA football player caught in photos with a beer keg. Someone call us when photos surface of him actually drinking alcohol.

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