SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY TONIGHT

OK ... It's way past my bedtime, but I'll be making an appearance on Scarborough Country tonight on MSNBC.  Stay up with me and see why I have a career in radio and not television! 

WHAT DOES A GEAR WARNING LIGHT HAVE TO DO ABOUT ANYTHING?

It was December 29, 1972.  Eastern Airlines flight 401 was approaching the Miami International Airport on a flight from New York when a light failed to illuminate on the console.  It was the nose gear light.  It would normally glow green to indicate that the nose gear was "down and locked."  The entire crew of this Lockheed L-1011 started to fixate on that warning light.  They changed the bulb.  No help.  While the pilot, the co-pilot and the flight engineer, along with an Eastern Airlines engineer, tried other fixes for the bulb problem, someone moved the control yoke.  The autopilot was disengaged and the aircraft started a slow decent.  Nobody noticed.  The flight engineer and the Eastern engineer climbed below the cockpit to eyeball the nose gear.  As the flight engineer was looking down at the nosewheel he noticed lights from the aircraft reflecting off the Everglades swamp.  The airplane was just skimming the surface.  Before he could notify the flight deck the L-1011 crashed into the Everglades.  There were 176 people aboard.  Seventy-six of them survived.  

So ... why am I telling you this story?  Some of you can figure it out.  Sadly, many of you can't.  There's a good reason to listen to the show today.  I'll tie this tragic event into today's news.  If you don't get the show in your area you can always listen on the internet [launches player].  For the rest of you ... why don't you drop us an email and tell us where you think I'm going with this.   

PLAYING THE FEAR CARD?

Yesterday, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" on terrorism.  According to Shrillary, pointing out that Democrats are weak on National Security is playing the fear card.  I suppose if the truth hurts, that could make you afraid, couldn't it?

Of course, this is a bunch of nonsense and she knows it.  Americans should live in a little bit of fear when it comes to terrorism.  It is coming up on 5 years since 9/11....all without a major terrorist attack.  Right now, Islamic extremists are rioting all over the world.  They're burning flags.  They're waving signs that mention such peaceful Islamic practices as decapitations, cutting of hands, murder and terrorist attacks.  They're burning flags.  They're wandering around looking for Europeans to kidnap.  Today 100,000 followers of the religion of peace will demonstrate in London.  We'll see how that works out for Londoners.  The oft-stated goal, presumably still valid, is to kill as many Americans as possible and to eventually bring the world under Islamic law with some sort of grand pooh-bah Islamic Caliph running the show.  Top this all off by the fact that some of these Muslim terrorist groups may well be just ticks of the clock away from getting their hands on a nuclear weapon.    In the face of all of this Hillary says that Republicans are playing the fear card.  Does that mean she thinks Republicans are over-stating the reality of the terrorist threat?  If so ... is this really the type of person we want in control of our country?

PROBLEMS FOR BOEHNER

It's not difficult to find someone inside the Beltway who will tell you that Republicans are in trouble this fall. If the Democratic party gets it together even a little bit (unlikely, but possible) George Bush could find himself with a Democratic Congress come next January.  How could this happen?  The arrogance of power, plain and simple.  It's stories like this one that give people the perception that all members of Congress are corrupt and crooked.

Take John Boehner of Ohio, the newly elected House Majority Leader.  He was supposed to clean up the House.  He is going to do something about corruption.  In pushing aside Tom DeLay and his lieutenants, we're supposed to get some new blood in the House leadership.  But it looks like John Boehner has a few problems.

Jack Abramoff.  Yup..Jack's back...and this time, he's haunting Boehner.  It would seem Boehner's former chief of staff booked a trip in 1996 organized by Abramoff, but never went.  Now I don't know what that all means .. but it does show that the Abramoff tentacles reach into Boehner's office, at least in some respect.

Now it turns out Boehner rents an apartment from a lobbyist....one that has lobbied him in the past.  It seems Boehner pays $1,600 a month to somebody named John Milne, a lobbyist with clients who have business before a committee Boehner chairs.  Hey ... you have to live somewhere, but do you have to rent an apartment with a lobbyist  who represents clients affected by your committee decisions?

At any rate, all of this may not amount to much, and the Democrats most certainly are just as bad...but the media won't report it that way.  And if Republicans do nothing about the perceived corruption, there's a good chance they may end up back in that area that some feel they find more comfortable ... the minority. 

SPEAKING OF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS

Last night Sean Hannity and I appeared before a gaggle of radio station managers and programmers for a little Q&A session.  We were asked for our opinions on just where Democrats and Republicans strayed off the path, so to speak.  So, with nothing but a diet soft drink under my belt, I thought on this question for a moment.  As for the Democrats? I think their party began to slide when they started believing that America was great because of its government.  Republicans?  They started their decline the very moment they achieved their lifetime goal of controlling the House and the Senate.  Republicans may well be the embodiment of the saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

This'll get your lawn mowed in 30 seconds flat! Hold on tight though! More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

If you would like to keep tract of the Global Flyer around the world effort, here's your link!

If Islam is the supposed religion of peace, then why are Muslims rioting in the streets all over the world.....over a cartoon?  Ann Coulter takes a look at the cartoons that are causing all the uproar.

The eminent domain abuse continues...this time in Davis, California.  As Debra Saunders reports, it's even worse than the Kelo situation.  Don't miss this one.

Did you know that the cartoons causing such an uproar all over the world actually ran 4 months ago in an Egyptian newspaper?  There wasn't a peep out of the Islamic rioters then.

The New York Times is reporting that the U.S. Military is having to force-feed Islamic terrorists who are on a hunger strike down at Gitmo.  Hopefully we're giving them culturally appropriate meals.  Wouldn't want to offend anyone while we're trying to keep them from starving.

It has been reported that a West Virginia man had to pay the Army back for $700 worth of body armor and other gear damaged in combat.  Since this is ridiculous and outrageous, the Army has announced he will be repaid.

A 2005 study warned that FEMA was a complete disaster, but said study was ignored.  Once again, your tax dollars at work.  Isn't government so efficient?  We should give them more money!

Airlines require passengers that take up more than one seat to pay for more than one seat.  This has been the case for years.  One woman is suing Southwest Airlines over the policy...but because she's black. 

Michigan's economic troubles from it's beleaguered auto industry could pose a problem for the incumbent Democratic governor.  George Will previews the competition in the upcoming election.

President Bush wants to make his tax cuts permanent, but the left absolutely hates this.  Larry Elder explains the effort to portray the tax cuts as somehow bad.

There was a lot of talk about how the White House was supposed to have informed Congress about the domestic wiretapping.  Robert Novak says the Bush administration might be willing to cooperate...just a bit.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?

These are links to each individual story on the Nuze, p-links for the geeks out there. Plus, they work today and they'll work tomorrow. Now you can easily discuss/debate/rip apart the Nuze without worrying about the links going bad. Enjoy!

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