Some of Washington’s best and brightest conservative writers can be found at The American Spectator, a daily online magazine (often mentioned by el Rushbo who frequently includes it in his “stack of stuff’) that features conservative perspectives and analyses on the day’s events and issues.

ON THE RADIO! Tonight at 9 ET we’ll be talking to two of these sharp political writers.

Robert Stacy McCain asks the question: Is there a clear reason for Republicans’ defeatist mood? His take… not quite. A Rasmussen Presidential polling shows the candidates are head-to-head.

“Despite the dispirited state of the GOP, the ideological muddling of the McCain campaign, and the media accolades for Obama, it is far from a foregone conclusion that Hope and Change will triumph Nov. 4.”

“Obamamaniacs were thrilled by last month’s Newsweek poll showing their candidate ahead by 15 points. Alas for the apostles of Hope, either that poll was a statistical mirage or else the mass movement toward Obama quickly receded, and Newsweek reported last week that his lead is now an insignificant 3 percentage points.”

***

Midway through the program, Philip Klein will join us to add to the conversation. He was quoted this week in USA TODAY’s article on controversial The New Yorker magazine cover. Philip also attended Senator Obama’s Iraq speech in D.C. and will give us his take on the man and the speech. What’s the worst that could happen?

Tonight he’ll lay it out for us. Just click the button below at 9 to join us.

*****

Two obsessions from which the Enemy Media just can’t pry themselves loose: global warming and Bushophobia….

***ABC’s GMA Touts Sci-Fi Future of Death, Doom and Fire

To promote a new climate change special airing this fall, Thursday’s Good Morning America hyped terrifying future predictions of “more floods, more droughts, more wildfires” and, bizarrely, invited viewers to somehow morph into prophets and “report back” about what life is like in the year 2100. Featuring a slate of global warming alarmists, reporter Bob Woodruff previewed “Earth 2100″ and touted the show as “a countdown through the next century” that “shows what scientists say might very well happen if we do not change our current path.” An online version of this story hyperventilated, “Are we living in the last century of our civilization?” However, the oddest concept of this upcoming special includes a interactive online game that Woodruff claimed “puts participants in the future and asks them to report back about what it is like to live in this future world.” At one point, Woodruff played a few examples of these “reports.” In one, a teenager laments: “It’s June 8th, 2015. One carton of milk is $12.99.” Another video features a second teenager who admits he’s “scared [profanity bleeped] right now.”

Hey, come to think of it, I’m pretty “scared [profanity bleeped] right now”, too.  I’m, as of yesterday, paying $4.35 for a gallon of gasoline.  The pump price tote board at my neighborhood filling station is vibrating.  I can’t even look at it without getting motion sickness.  By Independence Day I may not be able to even drive by it without my economy car getting blown off the road like it was being angrily pursued by a giant electric fan.  And just forty-eight hours ago the Speaker of the House of Representatives said this:

“We cannot drill our way out of this…A barrel of oil now costs four times more than it did when President Bush took office,” Pelosi said. “Two oil men in the White House, cost of oil four times higher. Price at the pump: $4 a gallon.”

Is she lamenting that “George Bush’s war” in Iraq apparently wasn’t for oil after all?  Or celebrating the achievment by their environmentalist “no new sources!” extremism of what liberals have always wanted: skyrocketing energy prices that will level the economy and bring the long-Donk-besieged energy sector under direct federal control by public demand?

Give her her due, though; she is right that we can’t drill our way out of exploding oil costs today.  But what about “2015″?  If we’d been drilling all along, mightn’t the digits on that pump price tote board actually be perceivable?  Or, God help me, stable - and a lot lower?  When are we going to get serious about energy policy in this country?  Evidently not for a long, long time if the current political winds don’t drastically shift.

Why doesn’t ABC do a horror special on future life in America after the collapse of Social Security and Medicare whose free market reform Democrats refuse to even consider has plunged the U.S. into a second and permanent Great Depression?  Or the irradiated war zone it will be thanks to the Supreme Court decreeing that, in practical terms, we can’t fight the terrorists militarily anymore?  At least those apocalyptic visions are real.

***Cafferty Scolds House Democrats for Not Pushing to Impeach Bush

Six months after he chastised Congress for not following George McGovern’s advice to impeach President Bush, CNN’s Jack Cafferty on Thursday scolded House Democrats for disposing of the latest impeachment effort by the far-left Dennis Kucinich (earlier NB post on Cafferty’s blog entry). Fretting that “the House of Representatives voted to send an impeachment resolution against President Bush to a committee where it will die,” Cafferty used his “Cafferty File” segment during the 4 PM EST hour of The Situation Room to lecture: “Congress continues to refuse to exercise its constitutional responsibility, which is oversight of the executive branch of our government. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi long ago said impeachment is off the table. This is a joke. We have a President who has abused the power of his office over and over and over again. It’s what got the Democrats elected to the majority in Congress in 2006. The Democrats, no doubt, are worried what it will look like to many voters if they spend their time on impeachment. To hell with what’s right or wrong.”

I gotta admit, I do share Cafferty’s surprise, if not his outrage.  I expected the double-impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney to be the first order of business of the 110th Congress after the Democrats took it over in 2006.  That’s what insurrectionists like Cafferty had been demanding for six years, simply as revenge for the failure of Al Gore’s Florida coup attempt (and the GOP’s impeachment of Bill Clinton) before Iraq became the Left’s cornucopia of perfidious sedition, diseased conspiracism, and malignant political agitation.  Now they had back the keys, and it was time to run Dubya and Big Time over.  And elected Dems always give the hard Left what it wants.

Except of one niggling little detail: they didn’t have the numbers in the Senate to actually remove either boogeyman from office.  Neither did the GOP when they impeached Clinton, but that was a belated stand on the principle that the rule of law did, after all, apply to La Clinton Nostra, not an exercise in raw banana republicanism.  And with the southern moderate “blue dog” wing larger than the size of the narrow Donk majority in the House, the impeachers might not have been able to win a floor vote to get Bush and Cheney shipped next door for trial at all.

A year ago the “surge” was still stoppable by such treacherous means, at least theoretically.  What would be the point of a coup attempt now?  The Dems have lost on Iraq, Bush is a legless duck, and their messiah is about to make his rapturous return to smite the remains of his predecessor’s presidency anyway.

The point to Jack Cafferty’s fevered mind is that Congress, when it is controlled by his own party, has a constitutional responsibility to exercise the overthrow of the Executive Branch of our government when it is led by a member of the opposition party, especially when he has “abused his power” - defined as pursuing policies Jack Cafferty disagrees with - “over and over and over again”.

Why can’t he just be happy with skyrocketing energy prices and call it a day?

***You Read It Here First: FNC Picks Up Williams, Brokaw/Letterman

On Tuesday night, FNC’s Brit Hume and Bill O’Reilly picked up statements reported Monday night on the MRC’s NewsBusters blog and Tuesday morning in CyberAlert. O’Reilly set up his O’Reilly Factor “Top Story” segment by running two clips, starting with David Letterman trashing President Bush on Monday night: “Even I am perceiving now that things are horrible in ways they shouldn’t be horrible. Now, we’re not going to impeach the guy. Could we get our money back?” Then O’Reilly played this from NBC anchor Brian Williams’ commencement address on Sunday at Ohio State, a quote the DrudgeReport had highlighted in linking to the NewsBusters posting on it: “I come here today with a request for the Class of ‘08: We need you to fix the country.” Earlier in the evening Tuesday, June 10, Brit Hume read this item during his “Grapevine” segment: “Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw chided Late Show host David Letterman, Monday, for his claims that the nation is in a horrible state because of President Bush….”

Hey, Dave?  Two things: You’ve just gotten your name stricken from Jack Cafferty’s Winter Holiday card list; and if you think things are “horrible” now, just wait a few years after your Obamessiah has had a chance to work his “magic.”

And Brian?  Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.

[cross-posted at ]

Memorial Day Tribute to Heroes, and Audio of Interviews with attendees of Anti-Illegal Immigration Rally in California

Memorial Day means more than bar-b-qued hamburgers and hot dogs. It is more than just a day off from work. Memorial Day is a time to thank those who have sacrificed their lives for this nation, and a time to thank those who are currently laying it all on the line everyday to keep this nation safe. These men and women are most deserving of our deepest respect and gratitude for all they have done on behalf of our great country.

It is my sincere hope that everybody takes the time to pay tribute to those heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice while protecting our freedom, and also recognize the tremendous sacrifices that our Veterans have made and our active duty troops are making everyday.

Simple words cannot convey my gratitude. As a veteran myself I understand the oath, and I understand the difficult journey. However, as a peace-time veteran, I will never fully understand the taste of freedom that graces the hearts and souls of our war-time veterans, and the brave men and women currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In fact, there are only two words that I can say that truly relay how I feel. They are simple words, insignificant by themselves, but filled with emotion and honor when placed together and delivered to a member of the United States Military.

Thank You.

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Tonight on Political Pistachio Radio we will pay tribute to those fine members of the military, past and present, living and dead. I encourage the veterans that read this site and listen to the show to call in so that we may thank you personally.

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The men and women that protect this nation serve in many more ways other than the military. Our Border Patrol is also an agency tasked with keeping us as a nation safe, not only from illegal immigrants who have broken the law to be here and are tapping into a system they have neither contributed to, nor have the legal right to access, but the Border Patrol also protects us from members of enemy Islamic factions and Mexican drug cartels. One out of three persons crossing the border along the San Diego county line are of Middle Eastern descent. The Drug Cartels in Mexico are at war with the government and each other, and that war is attempting to spill over into this country. The Border Patrol is our line of defense against both of these dangers. Unfortunately, our government, which is fast becoming a judicial oligarchy, has determined that if Border Patrol Agents do their job, their actions are punishable by prison.

Two Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, attempting to interrupt a cross-border drug smuggling operation, fired their weapons in self-defense at an admitted illegal alien, drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila. The smuggler managed to escape across the border into Mexico, but he left his vehicle, loaded with more than 700 pounds of marijuana. It was another good bust. Rather than be congratulated for doing their job, the Border Patrol agents were charged with attempted murder, indicted, placed under house arrest for eight long months. The two agents were later sentenced to 11 and 12 years in federal prison, respectively, on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and for violation of the drug smuggler’s civil rights. They remain in prison serving their unfair sentence that President George W. Bush could pardon, but won’t because of his globalistic position, and lack of cajones against the liberal left which would lambaste him if he so dared.

Last Friday I attended a Free Ramos and Compean Sidewalk Rally in Irvine, California near where First Lady Laura Bush was autographing copies of the book she authored with Jenna Bush, “Read All About It!” While I was there I interviewed a number of the folks holding up signs and waving American Flags in support of our unjustly jailed Border Patrol Agents, Ramos and Compean. Tonight on Political Pistachio Radio, after the tribute to our American Military Heroes, past and present, I will play for you the audio of those interviews. Don’t miss this broadcast! This will be a show you will remember for a lifetime.

Join us tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern Time on Political Pistachio Radio.

Below are photos I took from the Rally. The first is of the line waiting to meet Laura Bush. The last picture is of a woman born in South America who declares proudly she is an American, and she is the final, stirring interview you will hear tonight.

Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of KORN, was born in Bakersfield, California. During his teenage years he recorded demos in his father’s studio. Later, he joined a band called Sex Art, Which also included Ryan Shuck (the guitarist of the current band Orgy). Sex Art was performing in a club one night when at the time L.A.P.D. was also performing which had James Shaffer and Brian Welch (Munky and Head of Korn) saw Jonathan Davis singing, and asked him to join their band Creep. After Jon got the job they later became Korn.

Jonathan’s father, Rick Davis, first worked in the music industry with Glenn Campbell. He spent several years working for and learning from Gary S. Paxton (Alley Oop - and many other hits - Gary has been a Christian producer since the 1970’s).

Rick Davis spent over 25 years in the music industry, touring, recording, managing, and then mentoring.

Rick’s very successful brother, Mike Davis, is the Senior VP of Entertainment for Universal Theme Parks, Japan, and he is a former VP of entertainment for Disney.

Rick Davis’ final tour was working for Ringo Starr on his 1989/90 All Star Band Tour.

Rick had a lifetime close working relationship with the late Buck Owens, operating Buck’s recording studio for 16 years.

Jonathan Davis is my second cousin (once removed?). Rick is my mom’s cousin. When Rick and Mike Davis were kids one of their strong musical influences was my grandfather. Grandpa loved gadgets and guitars, and he loved to show everyone how it all worked. Mike took to the guitar and musical side, and Rick was more into the gadgets. In the end, both brothers broke into the music industry, Mike as a singer, and Rick became involved in the production end of the industry.

I last spoke with Rick in person at my grandfather’s funeral years ago. Jonathan will always be to me that quiet little kid that I ignored at family get togethers. Little did I know that the young man that studied to be a mortician in college would be the front man for one of the biggest rock bands in history.

Recently, I was thinking about doing a show on my Political Pistachio Radio about how the music industry and world of politics affect each other. When the idea formulated in my mind, the first person I thought of to request as a knowledgeable guest regarding the subject was Rick Davis (Papa KORN).

So, Monday night, after my guest hosting on the Andrea Shea King show, Political Pistachio Radio’s guest is Rick Davis, the father of Jonathan Davis, to discuss how the music industry and the political cockroaches influence each other. Join us at 10:00 PM Eastern Time.

Gary W. Moore is a humble man, calm and friendly, happy to discuss the life of his father. After all, the tale of his father is larger than life, and a story we can learn from - because it is a tale about second chances, but second chances in a direction that we don’t always expect. Gary’s father, Gene Moore, began his journey to the pages of Playing With The Enemy as a 15 year old baseball prodigy that was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1940. The outbreak of World War II, however, demanded that the young phenom join the military. Gene Moore joined the United States Navy, and his tour began in North Africa where he played for the Navy baseball team to entertain the troops. The duty was not always easy, or away from danger, evidenced by the death of the center fielder when an explosion on the field took the young ballplayer’s life. Later, as the war effort concentrated more on the theater in Europe, Gene Moore was sent on a secret mission to guard German POWs in Louisiana. These prisoners were very special, however, and their capture was a secret to the outside world for a tremendous reason. The submarine these German sailors were the crew of was the U-505 (now on display in Chicago, Illinois at the Museum of Science and Industry), inside which the United States procured the Enigma Machine and all of the code books that went with it, enabling us to stay on top of the changes in the code, and therefore assisting us in winning the war against Germany. During this time that Gene Moore guarded these prisoners, primarily out of his desire to play baseball (and perhaps a little boredom), Gene Moore and his fellow military baseball players taught the enemy soldiers how to play America’s pastime. The story does not end there, however. Tragedy, and the storms of life that can crush dreams, and enable the birth of new ones, came to Gene Moore’s life. It was then that he learned about second chances, and the importance of the unexpected things in life. This inspirational true story is being made into a film by Producer Gerald R. Molen via his WhiteLight Entertainment production company. Molen’s and White Light Entertainment’s credits include Schindler’s List, Minority Report, Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Twister, Casper, Rain Man and The Flintstones. White Light Entertainment has to its credit 33 Academy Award nominations, 19 Academy Awards, including two for the best picture and a total box office collection of $4 billion from the 14 movies it has produced so far. The screenplay was written by WhiteLight director of development David Ranes and the author’s son, Toby Moore, who’s also set to portray his grandfather. The film is in production now and is slated to be released during the first quarter of 2009. I first met Gary W. Moore, the author of Playing With The Enemy, at a book signing in San Diego on October 1, 2006. A month later we got together in Pasadena, California after another book signing, and it was then that I realized I had made a wonderful friend. Since then, Gary W. Moore has appeared on my Political Pistachio Radio Show a number of times (April 7, 2007; June 16, 2007 with his publisher: Ted Savas; and January 26, 2008). And honestly, Playing With The Enemy is a great read, and a book that is not about World War II and Baseball as much as it is about the human spirit. As for the movie? Well, I hear there is going to be some great acting talents in the film, but the producer has not released the names, yet. However, when we know who those actors are that are in the film, you will find out about it on Political Pistachio, and of course at that time we will have Gary W. Moore return to Political Pistachio Radio to discuss the latest news regarding this blockbuster film. Also see Gary interviewed by CNN here, and the Fox affiliate in Milwaukee here.

And don’t forget to catch Political Pistachio on Blog Talk Radio nightly at www.blogtalkradio.com/politicalpistachio.

Living in the Twilight Zone

Golden Earring’s Chorus for The Twilight Zone goes as follows:

Now I’m steppin’ into the Twilight Zone
This is a madhouse
Feels like being home
My feet they can’t move
Under moon and star
Where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far

Now why, you may ask, am I bringing up that chorus and The Twilight Zone?

I am a huge Twilight Zone fan, catching old episodes whenever I can on the local independent television station. I will not be so arrogant to say that I have caught every episode in my lifetime, but I have seen a great many of them. A couple of nights ago I caught an episode that sent a chill down my spine. The episode of The Twilight Zone was “The Obsolete Man,” with Burgess Meredith (Watch the full episode here). The opening narration is as follows:

You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future; not a future that will be, but one that might be. This is not a new world: It is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advancements, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the super states that preceded it, it has one iron rule: Logic is an enemy, and truth is a menace. This is Mr. Romney Wordsworth, in his last forty-eight hours on Earth. He’s a citizen of the State, but will soon have to be eliminated, because he’s built out of flesh and because he has a mind. Mr. Romney Wordsworth, who will draw his last breaths in the Twilight Zone.

The main character, Romney Wordsworth (Burgess Meredith), is a person that has been found to be “obsolete” by The State because he is not needed by society anymore. And because he is guilty of the crime of being obsolete, he is prosecuted by The Chancellor, and is sentenced to death.

In his daily life Mr. Wordsworth is a carpenter. Secretly, he is a librarian, a practice that is punishable by death. Also, he believes in God, another crime punishable by death.

After his sentencing, Wordsworth is given the choice of method of execution. He requests, also, that he be allowed to not disclose his method of death, and for the execution to be broadcast live on television. The requests are honored, and Wordsworth is sentenced.

Note the name of the main character. Romney Wordsworth. Appropriate considering his hobby as a librarian. Also note this daytime occupation: Carpenter. Considering that Mr. Wordsworth in this episode of The Twilight Zone is a man of faith, the connection is obvious. And Mr. Wordsworth spends a large portion of his final moments reading from a Holy Bible which he retrieves from a hiding place (apparently the Bible is illegal as well).

As the episode proceeds, while Wordsworth’s final hours are broadcast live to the nation, the chancellor is invited by Wordsworth to come to his apartment (Wordsworth’s choice location for his death) for a short discussion. What the chancellor does not realize is Wordsworth ensures that the chancellor is locked in the room with him. Then Wordsworth reveals his choice method of execution, and this chosen method is by bomb, a device which has been hidden in the room and is set to go off when the clock reaches midnight.

Wordsworth is calm as death approaches, and his intention is to show the nation how a man of God faces death. As he reads verses from his Bible, he points out that the State will risk losing face by trying to rescue a high-ranking chancellor. As the time winds down, Wordsworth’s calm acceptance of death stands in sharp contrast with the chancellor’s increasing panic, and eventual outburst, “In the name of God, let me out!”

Wordsworth immediately obliges, saying, “Yes, chancellor, In the name of God, I will let you out.”

Wordsworth knows he is not obsolete as he dies. His personal freedom was not taken away from him by the totalitarian state, his faith was not rubbed out by the humanistic secular government. His faith in what was written in his Bible is what keeps him going, and he never becomes fearful as death approaches. As death approaches the main character remains firm in his convictions, while the chancellor who claimed all along to be protected by The State became fearful, and panicked.

In the final scene the chancellor, now stripped of his rank for his outcry to God, and his inability to hide his fear, is put on trial for none other than the crime of being obsolete.

The closing narration of The Obsolete Man is as follows:

The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He was obsolete, but so is the State, the entity he worshipped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete. A case to be filed under “M” for mankind—in the Twilight Zone.

How chilling is the parallels to today’s society. The liberal left desires that The State (big government) be all things to all people. They encourage dependency upon The State through entitlement programs while squashing faith and self-sufficience. Anything not in agreement with their agenda is suppressed (as Creationism is in academia, how discussions of faith are because the Christian faith refuses to accept homosexuality as a valid lifestyle, Pro-Family books and addresses because they defend the family unit). And as this agenda incrementally advances, eugenics peeks over the horizon, and the liberal left’s own green agendas stands in the way of their own supposed advancements and religion of saving the planet from ourselves.

How chilling is it that today’s society is hell-bent on eliminating God, eliminating faith, and suppressing scriptural teachings and values. The commonalities between The Obsolete Man and the path our society is on is chilling, indeed.

Also note the following: The Obsolete man aired during the second season of The Twilight Zone in 1961, two years before God/prayer was removed from the public school system by Abington Township School District v. Schempp, June 17, 1963, a case brought about by the activism of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who founded the group American Atheists in 1963.

Hear commentary about this episode of The Twilight Zone on Political Pistachio Radio.

If the reports are true the SECDEF will be recommending a new position for the above Person of the Year ‘07 (in my eyes). General Petraeus may take the reigns at CENTCOM for the departing Admiral Fallon. Lt. General Odierno would fill Petraeus’s boots leading the fight in Iraq.

Also for those engaged in the “war over lies” debates, I only post these for you to reference. Are they nukes? No. WMDs yes.

Since my guess is that everyone that reads this is educated they will realize the travesty of this cover. But just in case you don’t, and as a reminder to the rest of us…

The flag raising at Iwo Jima represents a proud moment in history and one that came at extreme cost. That photo came to represent the United States Marine Corps. It is the most recognizable image from WWII, in my humble opinion… and I think someone must have agreed along the way if it is the basis for the National Memorial to the USMC.

I spoke of the cost, let us think about the constant speak in our current war about how the cost is unacceptable in order to obtain victory. Iwo Jima was a strategic island that saw the brunt of 110,000 of our forces. (Comparable to today’s numbers.) Out of that: 6,821 died to take that island, and did those loses occur over a long fought 5 years? No. 35 days. 35 DAYS!

That photograph represents the true heroism of our armed forces, specifically the USMC in this case, and to bastardize it by a quick Photoshop to make it fit your purpose of Global Warming is sick and shameful.

Some of the veterans who were at the World War II Pacific battleground of Iwo Jima are hopping mad at TIME magazine’s latest cover.

It’s a takeoff on the famous picture of Marines raising the American flag. But TIME’s cover has substituted a tree and talks about a war on global warming.

The Marine who led the platoon that raised the flag on Iwo Jima says that “global warming is the biggest joke I’ve ever known.”

Another Iwo Jima veteran says, “It’s an absolute disgrace. Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.”

TIME managing editor Richard Stengel isn’t backing down. He says, “There needs to be an effort along the lines of preparing for world war two to combat global warming and climate change.” (Link)

I hope that Time Magazine gets beaten upon the head repeatedly, metaphorically of course. If you wish to help with this “virtual beating” please join me in showing your frustration. Many people think it is good to write a form letter and have everyone sign it. Companies, people in general do not care if they get a 1,000 of the same letter with a different name. 1,000 each written shows the person actually cared enough to take the few moments to object with their own mind. It does not have to be long, but please join me:

letters@time.com

Customer Service Department

1-866-550-6934

Lets keep the honor where it is earned and deservedly placed, not with a fight for a cause that does not exist! And even if you do believe in the Global Warming cause, at a minimum have the honesty to fight for your cause by your own means. Not by using the suffering, honor, integrity, and death of others to advance your cause.

It’s the first visit by a Pope since 9/11, and the jet carrying Pope Benedict XVI has landed at Andrews AFB. The Pontiff was met by President Bush and Laura and Jenna Bush. A full schedule of events is set to take place during the Pope’s six-day stay in the USA.

Tonight, we’ll talk with Dr. Deal Hudson, publisher of InsideCatholic.com and author of Onward Christian Soldiers, who notes that Pope Benedict XVI is being greeted by more than cheering crowds: it seems there has been a dramatic rise in the number of stories printed and broadcast about “a Catholic church in crisis” and “Catholics at a tipping point” and so forth.

“There is something terribly perverse and inaccurate about the barrage of media about the “problems” facing Benedict XVI upon his arrival.

Yes, there are problems facing Catholics in the United States, but not the ones being highlighted by most media. They are fixated on dissent about contraception, low morale after the priest-sex scandal, disappointed liberals lamenting the passing of the Vatican II era, and the fringe who still clamor for woman priests and more power to the laity.

The real problems in the Church are those being addressed by Benedict XVI as they were addressed by John Paul II — the institutionalized dissent of established Catholic institutions, such as colleges and universities; the need for younger priests to replace the generation of priests reaching retirement age; the regeneration of liturgical practice after decades of destructive experimentation; and re-commitment of Catholics toward the unchanging truths of the Church amidst a culture of death and moral relativism.”

We’ll take a look at the Pope’s historic visit — his first as Pope, and only the second Pope ever to visit the White House — tonight at 9p ET on my internet webcast. Join us.

*****

Catch it tonight. Entertaining the troops! You can also click on the logo to take you to the site.

Predictably, Hillary, when the National Archives released 11,000 pages of your schedule as first lady, the media focused on the unenlightening and the inconsequential. Where were you when Bill soiled Monica’s blue dress?

Where were you when Bill was impeached? When did you first start work on health care reform?

But Hillary, there is one question that needs to be asked, one that cuts right to your own claim to the presidency: where were you at 3 a.m. on the morning of July 18, 1996?

Jack Cashill asks the question. Tonight he’ll tell us why it’s important that we know.

Join us at 9 p.m. EDT on my internet radio program. Your calls are welcome - 646-478-4604.

***

CONFIRMED!!!
TONIGHT — THE REV. JESSE LEE PETERSON will join us on my radio program with his reaction to Obama’s not-so-mea-culpa to the nation. Peterson doesn’t subscribe to the racism and hate that permeates Barack Obama’s church. And he’s not afraid to say so with (ahem) audacity.

ALSO — LATER IN TONIGHT’S PROGRAM, Jim Purcey makes an encore appearance on the program to talk about the Obama flap and the banking crisis. Jim is the author of AM I THE ONLY AMERICAN WHO THINKS THIS WAY?

Watched Obama’s State of the Union speech this morning… could he have had more American Flags on that stage? This from a presidential candidate who won’t wear a flag pin on his lapel or hold his hand over his heart when the Pledge is recited? Has he visited any of our troops? Do you suppose the sermon at Trinity Church this week will be all inclusive, welcoming, embracing?

Questions, questions, questions…

Did Obama’s paean to his pastor today change my opinion of either men? No. In fact, it did just the opposite — it solidified my observation that Obama is deeply embedded and invested in the “Black Condition” — victimhood, powerlessness, rage against “Whitey” and hatred for the country that their ancestors came to unwillingly (conveniently forgetting or deliberately ignoring that it was African tribal chiefs who sold some of those ancestors to the slave traders).

Maybe that’s because of who and what he is. But I’m not climbing into that box with him. I believe it’s more about the choices he has made over the past 20 or 30 years.

Some info about tonight’s show guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson — from his website:

Often referred to as the “antidote to Jesse Jackson”, Rev. Peterson is the author of the “National Day of Repudiation of Jesse Jackson” event. Rev. Peterson is also the man behind the National Boycott of the NAACP, believing the organization to be nothing more than a tool of the largely “elite, socialist” Democratic Party.

Rev. Peterson is the Founder and President of the national nonprofit organization BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, whose purpose is “Rebuilding the Family By Rebuilding the Man”. He is also the author of the book, “SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America”.

Jesse is frequently seen on major TV networks such as Fox, CNN, and MSNBC, consistently leaving his liberal counterpart in knots. His unflappable, can-do attitude and absolute commitment to truth are the perfect medicine for a value-challenged society.

Since 1990, BOND has helped men and their families regain control of their lives and overcome life’s challenges. The commitment of the organization stresses the importance of self-reliance, honesty, and helping others through patience.

*****

Illinois has a rich and infamous history of political corruption trials, but the trajectory of the case against Antoin “Tony” Rezko — a chief fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich — may be without parallel. According to the Chicago Trib:

“Boiled to its essence, the prosecution’s complex case against Rezko involves allegations that he and other insiders exploited their relationship with Blagojevich to seek millions of dollars in kickbacks from firms seeking state business or regulatory approval.

The case is attracting nationwide attention, in part because Rezko also befriended Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on his way up the political ladder and prosecutors have signaled that the U.S. senator’s name is likely to come up. Some cash Rezko allegedly obtained through shakedowns of state contractors ended up in Obama’s campaign coffers.”

Our friend, blogger MARATHON PUNDIT (John Ruberry of Illinois) has been following the story since its inception, and he joins us tonight to fill us in about Obama’s connection in this legal tangle. We’ll be keeping an eye on the returns as they come in from the Super Tuesday primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Curtain rises as 9 p.m. Eastern. Chat room doors open right about then too. Thirdwavedave will be there to greet you.

*****

I LO-O-O-V-E RADIO. I love the medium — the ability it has to entertain, inform, interact with listeners. I’ve done television and though it was a blast, it is a cool medium. One-way. But radio is white hot. Immediate. Very now, baby!

A year ago I was hosting Constitutional Public Radio (”CPR for the Heart of America”), an afternoon drive talk show broadcast on a 50,000 watt blowtorch that was heard up and down Florida’s East Coast. The station was a privately owned religious outlet that served up Christian ministries for breakfast, followed later in the day with syndicated conservative talk show fare. Taking the analogy a step further, we offered “CPR” as a two-hour dinnertime appetizer. It was a great place to be broadcasting our show where on a daily basis, we interviewed top national news makers, experts, and even the occasional entertainment personality with a conservative bent.

We took listeners’ phone calls, but we did something else that brought the show up to the next level — a live show on-line chat room. Nicknamed the “Big Blue Ballroom” because of its background screen color, the live chat feature let us interact real-time with our internet listeners who were tuning in on the internet stream that ran concurrent with our over-the-air terrestrial signal. They commented on show topics, typed in questions for our guests, chatted among themselves and became our regular “VIP section” listeners. While their numbers grew, there was always room in the front row for one or two more!

Among those who joined us nearly every day were Anna from Akron, Julie from Stowe Vt., David from Warrenton Va., Lone Star Pundit from Houston, Geoff from St. Louis, Marathon Pundit from Chicago, Lucky Dawg from Albuquerque, Mary Ann from Cleveland, Brainster from Phoenix, SCEagle from Germany, Blogmeister from New York City, Bud from Satellite Beach, Dean from Palm Bay, Gawfer from Southern California, and ThirdWaveDave from Northern California.

They all became more than part of the show. They became family. Because of his interest in what we were trying to accomplish with the program, ThirdWaveDave later joined the team as unofficial show/political advisor, and now helps produce both of my BTR and WDBO shows.

The immensely popular online live Chat Room has been a hallmark of my radio programs since we launched it nearly four years ago on my Sunday night show on WDBO. And if I may take a moment to boast — our live chat room feature put us WAY ahead of any other talk show. What was designed to connect my official radio show website with the radio program has become a staple ingredient in the shows’ success.

One afternoon last Spring, Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters was my guest. He told us he had left his job as a call center manager to jump aboard a new phenom called “Blog Talk Radio“, which was bringing blogging to a new level — interactive radio via the internet.

Total internet radio. Total programming freedom. No advertiser worries. No ad revenue to generate. In other words, carefree radio. Wow! And best of all — it was FREE. I was intrigued.

Not long after Ed’s appearance, I contemplated the notion of moving CPR exclusively to the internet on Blog Talk Radio. Ed and I spoke again, he “hooked me up”, and the rest is “histoire”!

In the 11 months since I’ve been there, Blog Talk Radio has experienced explosive growth . It’s had its growing pains too — it’s a nascent technology — but the possibilities are as exciting as any media I’ve ever experienced.

Thousands of amateur radio hosts are already making a name for themselves and have developed hundreds of followers who “tune in” to hear the show live or later at a time of their own convenience to hear it archived.

Just to show you how successful this little idea hatched by BTR’s CEO Alan Levy is, this week BTR is profiled in Conde Nast’s “Portfolio.com”:

“(Shaun) Dailey’s program airs on BlogTalkRadio.com, an enterprise that, in 18 months, has become the dominant player in the latest media trend, one that allows anyone with a Web connection to host a talk show on any topic at any time of day. It is the newest form of new media; the audio version of the internet blog.

“Everybody in our world—when I’m talking about our world I’m talking about over-the-air broadcasting and our media universe—is obviously watching this phenomenon closely and adapting as we go along,” says Dennis Wharton, spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters.

Aspiring broadcasters log on and select the length, time slot, genre, and topic of their show. BlogTalk provides the internet broadcast capability and a telephone system that allows hosts to take live callers, all for free.

It sounds like the kind of service that would draw U.F.O. watchers and religious prophesiers—and it does. But internet talk radio is also rapidly getting attention from prominent hosts, guests, and broadcasting companies—especially in the wake of the blog phenomenon, which mainstream media outlets were slow to accept. (my emphasis)

[…]

With its 40,000-plus shows, BlogTalk can bring in more than two million listeners each month, according to the company. In December, the site enjoyed about 80,000 listeners a day. That makes it a gnat compared to, say, National Public Radio, whose listenership over the last year has remained steady at 26 million. But BlogTalk is one of a half-dozen startups hoping to dominate the online talk space, and it has been growing fast.

“I think that [BlogTalk] represents something that’s far greater than itself,” says Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a leading talk-radio-industry trade publication. “There’s a whole bunch of new Web-based entities that I predict will be the media stations of the future.”

[…]

The online amateur-radio niche is still sparsely populated, and as yet, largely undefined. BlogTalk is one of the few companies that currently offers a medium explicitly designed to emulate traditional radio, and this may be part of the key to the company’s relative success.

Not surprisingly, Alan Levy, BlogTalk’s founder and C.E.O., believes companies like these will eventually come to replace traditional radio altogether. “To me, the reason why NPR or CBS Radio News is big is because right now, the only way to listen to the radio…is terrestrial,” he says. “When there are other alternatives…you’re going to see these audiences vanish; they’ll migrate to places that they want.”

Levy’s hype aside, some in traditional radio admit that services like his will likely start coming into the mainstream very soon. “It all comes down to the show,” said Walter Sabo, C.E.O. of Sabo Media, a consulting firm that counts a number of radio networks, including Sirius Satellite Radio (and Parade magazine, which is owned by Condé Nast’s parent company) among its clients. “People listen to shows that they like and if the show is good, it doesn’t matter what the source is. The medium itself is meaningless.”

The internet is THE new medium. Right now, I’m writing this post which will appear on my internet website, while I listen to my favorite music on Slacker, an internet radio that plays my preferred selection (today it’s smooth jazz) in a constant stream, commercial free. In just a bit, I’ll log on to watch “el Rushbo” on the ditto-webcam as he does his show. After that? Any one of my pick of show offerings at Blog Talk Radio.

The internet has opened a world where I’ve made new friends with common interests and shared enthusiasms. We converse by instant chat on Yahoo Instant Message, we occasionally play a game of backgammon, share files, and communicate via email. Every week I record a fresh installment and upload it as an MP3 file to an ftp folder where it magically appears on the radio magazine Voice of Liberty Podcast Network. It’s a whole new world at my fingertips.

This new medium is accessible to anyone with a computer, internet connection and a telephone or VoIP service such as Skype. Connectivity, baby. The name of the new game. I’m delighted to be part of it. I love the new radio!

*****

Tonight — Chuck Muth. Truth. From the man with incredible conservative credentials. And contacts.

Chuck heads up Citizen Outreach. He’s a professional political consultant. He’s also a former executive director of the American Conservative Union, a former National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a former county GOP chairman, state party executive director, communications director, press secretary, direct mail fundraising consultant and legislative candidate.

Chuck is a professional campaign trainer and volunteers as a national field instructor for numerous groups and organizations. He is also the publisher of various online newsletters, an author and a featured columnist who regularly appears on political TV and radio programs.

He lives in Carson City, Nevada, and tonight he’ll be on the ray-dee-oh with me. The topic? Politics. Natch.

Tune in at 9 p.m. eastern. Blog. Talk. Radio.

Catch it on the stream.

*****