Today's Nuze: January 18, 2005 

BROADCASTING TODAY FROM WASHINGTON DC!

The Neal Boortz Show will be broadcasting from the Talk Radio News Service's "Radio Row" today and tomorrow.  The idea here is that Washington-type dignitaries will stop by to get a little mic time with the various talk radio programs.  We'll see if that pans out.  No problem!  It's only cold enough to freeze nitrogen into a solid here. Is Neal picking his nose? Check the webcam.

THE BEST SOCIAL PROGRAM

The current issue of Time calls Social Security the best social program ever.  Sorry, they have it wrong.  The best social program ever is a system of economic liberty featuring capitalism and free enterprise operating under a system based on the rule of law.  No program, private or public, has ever done so much to raise so many from the depths of poverty and despair as has capitalism.  When the government steps aside and lets free people react freely with one another, amazing things happen. It's really too bad that Americans have fallen out of love with freedom and so in love with government-provided security.

YESTERDAY'S SEATMATE

A rather interesting flight to Washington yesterday.  I had a very pleasant, but extremely heavy seat-mate.  The flight was full, so as she sat down I found myself hoping that there were a couple of children -- small children -- on the flight to compensate for the mound that was sitting next to me.  Then there was the problem of this woman's daughter, who was wedged into the seat behind Belinda.  Now that woman was huge.  No, make that HUGE.  She actually had to sit sideways in the seat in order to get in.  She towered above the rest of the passengers.  A little make up enhancements and you would have thought that Sasquatch must have received an invitation to an inaugural ball.  But -- back to Big Bertha sitting next to me.  Being the sensitive and feeling person that I am, I was wondering if Big Mama was so large because of some unfortunate genetic happenstance.  That theory went out the window when she pulled out her reading material.  Food magazines.  She actually spent every minute of the trip from Atlanta to DC looking at pictures of food.  Not health foods.  No!  These were pictures of casseroles, cakes, desserts, and other gooey, sauce-slathered dishes that would send any sweet tooth into orgasmic delight.   Now what would you want to bet that this woman would tell you how hard she's tried, but she just can't lose weight.  Hell, I gained two pounds just looking over her shoulder!

SPREADING DEMOCRACY

• Nouman Shubbar, a Philadelphia police sergeant, drove 2 1/2 hours just so he could register to vote.  Said Mr. Shubbar: "It's a historical event.  I'm very happy, and I'm very proud that for the first time we have free elections."  He will make the same drive in a couple weeks to actually cast his ballot.
• Osama Al-Moosawi lives in Delaware and made the drive to Maryland because he didn't want to miss out on the chance to vote.  He was speechless, and even posed for pictures in front of the registration table.  "It's amazing, unbelievable," he said.
• 67-year-old Abdul Al-Haddad drove six hours from Raleigh, Carolina to New Carrollton, Maryland to register to vote.  Speaking through a translator, he said ''I feel I am responsible for my country, to build a free Iraq."

Compare these Iraqi expatriates to Americans.  How many of your neighbors would drive two and one-half hours just to register?  We had people who wouldn't wait one hour to vote!  And now these people are whining that they were "disenfranchised."  While the Iraqis stand up to terrorists and Islamic thugs who will kill to keep them from voting, John Kerry complains that Americans who didn't have the time to wait in line for an hour, or whose legs hurt so they went home, were "suppressed."

Oh, and by the way....is Hillary Clinton going to tell all of these Iraqi women that they were better off under Saddam Hussein?  She said that, you know.

THE MEDIA'S SPECIAL TREATMENT

There was an interesting little episode involving Lawrence Summers.  Who is Lawrence Summers?  Well, for the moment, he's the president of Harvard.  But he was also Bill Clinton's last secretary of the treasury.  And in a little speech the other day, he said something some consider to be just a wee-bit outrageous.

Summers gave a talk at a conference last week, in which he said that women lack the natural ability to do as well as men in science and engineering.  He went even further, questioning whether discrimination played any role in preventing women from advancing in those fields.  As you can imagine, the women in attendance were none too pleased with Mr. Summers.  One female biologist walked out.  Others said they were offended.  Ohmigod!  Someone was offended!  Now, I want you to gauge the level of outrage you see in the media from this.

Pretend for a minute that instead of a Democrat saying it, that it had been a Republican.  Imagine Dick Cheney said it.  It would be the top story, and people would be calling for his resignation.  However, because of the template, Lawrence Summers will get a pass.

Remember: there are two sets of rules the press lives by. One for Democrats, and one for Republicans.  If a conservative had said this, it would be the top story for a week.

SORE LOSERMAN, PART TWO

You didn't actually think that The Poodle was just going to concede the election and go riding off into the sunset, did you?  No, of course not.  So on the eve of the president's inauguration, what does the defeated Democrat from Massachusetts do? 

What else do Democrats do these days when they lose elections.  They claim "disenfranchisement."  That's right, John Kerry is claiming that voters were disenfranchised in the 2004 election,  Speaking yesterday at Boston's annual Martin Luther King Day breakfast, The Poodle tried to tie his own failure at the polls into the legacy of Dr. King.

He claimed that "thousands of people were suppressed in the effort to vote.  Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways. In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, eleven hours to vote, while Republicans (went) through in 10 minutes - same voting machines, same process, our America."  Talk about sour grapes.

First of all ... I doubt that it took anyone four, let alone eleven hours to vote.  Perhaps the Poodle was counting the time spent getting cleaned up, dressing, looking for a ride, and chatting with fellow losers outside the polling place.

Just like Al Gore, he can't let go.  I guess we'll have to get him a straight jacket too.  Do you think he's going to grow a beard? Wouldn't you like to see Kerry with an Al Gore beard?  

INAUGURATION TRIVIA

Abraham Lincoln's inauguration in 1861 was somewhat nerve wracking, there being some tensions between northern and southern states.  Politicians were actually arguing with each other as to who would be the first to step up onto the podium at the U.S. Capitol.  Why the argument? Because there was an assumption that the first politician up would be the first politician shot.  By Lincoln's second inauguration things were really hot.  The war between the states* was in full swing.  As Lincoln walked across the Capitol Rotunda to the podium a man broke loose from security and rushed him.  He was caught and later released when someone determined he wasn't a nut-job.  Here's your trivia question.  Name the man who rushed Lincoln in the Capitol Rotunda before his second swearing-in ceremony.  You'll have to listen to the show today to find out ... then you can win some bar bets.

*I don't use the term "Civil War" any more to refer to this conflict, because it wasn't a civil war.  By definition, a civil war is a conflict wherein two sides are vying for control of the same government.  That wasn't the case in the war between the states. We had one side trying to pull out, secede from  the union and establish its own government. I guess that makes me a nit-picker.  That's fine. There is no shortage of nits out there.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Now that he's been re-elected, this editorial in the Times of London asks the question: who's calling Bush an idiot now?  Excellent analysis of the president's history-making second term.

A lot of people think the mainstream media's days are numbered, thanks to bloggers, talk radio, scandal and cable news.  William Safari argues otherwise, and says the old media will still have its place.

Social Security reform is on the front burner, and President Bush faces a tall order in trying to get personal accounts through.  Fred Barnes takes a look at the landscape in Congress, and the president's possible routes to success.

Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib are no longer talking.  The reason?  Because of the prison scandal there, the interrogations have become weaker.  That's too bad, but it proves the point that American men and women are going to die because of that scandal.

The Pentagon is denying there are U.S. Military operations in Iran.  It had been previously reported that we were scouting targets to blow up.  Not so, says the government. Why not?

The cost of President Bush's inauguration is being largely paid for with private donations.  That is stopping the Bush-bashing media from whining about the tab.  The Media Research Center reports.

President Bush says he won't rule out military action against the Islamic jihadists that run Iran.  Good.  You never know...the newly elected government in Iraq might run a little short on parking.

The media seems to be rooting for the failure of the January 30th Iraqi elections, and David Limbaugh wonders just what their motivations are.  The Old Media says it can't be done, but freedom and liberty will win out on election day.

With the inauguration upon us, we tend to forget just how magnificent it all really is.  Jack Kemp says the peaceful transition of power is something to behold.

The inauguration will have the tightest security in history, because of the threat of a terrorist attack.  Cal Thomas poses the question: what is the likelihood of such an attack?  Actually, pretty good. Read on.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?
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