NEAL SLEEPS IN

So, Neal slept in this morning. We the staff decided to toss up some notes anyway. Let's see if Neal bites on any of them.

NEW BOOK ABOUT THE CIA

There is a new book out about the CIA...by the New York Times' James Risen.  The tome claims to be "The Secret History Of The CIA And The Bush Administration."  Sounds exciting!  Among the allegations included in the book is the claim that a number of American spies in Iran were rounded up after the CIA mistakenly revealed their identities.  The only problem....that's not what happened.

In fact, the CIA..an organization that is no friend to the Bush administration, by the way, has blasted Risen and his book.  According to a spokesperson: "Readers deserve to know that every chapter of 'State of War' contains serious inaccuracies. The author's reliance on anonymous sources begs the reader to trust that these are knowledgeable people. As this book demonstrates, anonymous sources are often unreliable.  It is most alarming that the author discloses information that he believes to be ongoing intelligence operations, including actions as critical as stopping dangerous nations from acquiring nuclear weapons. Setting aside whether what he wrote is accurate or inaccurate, it demonstrates an unfathomable and sad disregard for U.S. national security and those who take life-threatening risks to ensure it."  Doesn't sound like a very credible book, does it?

Of course, none of that matters.  Risen, a resident Bush-hater at the Times who was responsible for the story outing the NSA wiretapping program, doesn't need to prove anything to the media.  The press will give him a huge pass on any inaccuracies in his book...because it is unfavorable to the Bush administration.  That means everything inside its cover is to be taken as Gospel.

Oh..and Risen's book also follows another media template: always find and publish pictures of Condi Rice scowling.  Despite the thousands of pictures in existence of her smiling, the demonization of our Secretary of State continues.

LOBBYIST PLEADS GUILTY

This story has the potential to set off an absolute political earthquake in Washington.  Jack Abramoff, a disgraced lobbyist who pled guilty to several charges in federal court yesterday, spread a lot of money around on Capitol Hill.  The media has been pushing Abramoff's ties to Republicans in Congress...but it looks like both parties are involved on this one, all the way to the top of the Democratic leadership.

According to CNN, Abramoff is providing thousands of e-mails to investigators in which he described influence peddling with members of Congress...in other words, the favors he was getting in return for the money he was donating to their campaigns. Surprised?  You shouldn't be.  Abramoff is the tip of the iceberg.

Remember Randy Cunningham?  He was the California congressman who admitted to taking money from the defense industry in order to push their projects.  Are we to believe, out of 535 members of Congress, that he was the only one that did such a thing?  Is Abramoff the only lobbyist peddling influence to the highest bidder?  Hardly. Investigators are said to be looking at about 6 members in the Abramoff case. It should be interesting to see how that one pans out.

The Abramoff scandal is not just a Republican one, either.  According to the AP, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid was one of his biggest customers.  We'll see if the media covers for Senator Reid.

NO SURPRISE HERE

Speaking of corruption, a new poll out CNN/USA Today/Gallup says that 49% of those polled think members of Congress are corrupt. Those who thought Democrats and Republicans were corrupt ran about even.  So what does this mean?

Not much.  Why? Because many Americans enjoy benefiting from the corruption of their member of Congress.  For instance, how many times do voters reward their legislators for "bringing home the bacon" in the form of some sort of pork barrel spending or project?  How many times do Americans fall for the vote-buying schemes of one member of Congress or another? 

Money taken from the achievers in society and given to those who did not earn it...that's corruption.  Lobbyists and politicians who live off the social engineering of the tax code...that's the real source of corruption.  And the one guaranteed way to shut it all down tomorrow would be to adopt the Fair Tax proposal.

Without the loopholes, tax credits and exemptions to pursue...the lobbyists on K Street would be out of business.  And April 15th would be just another day.  Imagine that!

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The probable candidate to take on The Hildabeast this year for her Senate seat in New York is already blasting her record in the War on Terror.  He points to the Clinton White House's inaction on Islamic terrorism throughout the 90's.  This should be a fun campaign!

Jack Kelly says Democrats are plunging over a political cliff, and evidently, they don't realize it.  George Bush's poll numbers began rebounding almost immediately after John Murtha called for a surrender to Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

There's no difference between the leak "outing" Valerie Plame and the leak by the New York Times of the NSA wiretapping program.  At least Michelle Malkin thinks so...she says a leak is a leak is a leak.

John Stossel was caught up in the transit strike in New York...but he takes a different view than most.  He calls government out as the problem in the labor dispute.

Why have Bush's poll numbers rebounded?  Dick Morris tells us it's because of Democratic attacks on the Patriot Attack and attacks on the wiretapping policies of the administration. 

President Bush failed to get anything done on Social Security in 2005.....and David Limbaugh blames the Democrats.  Even Bill Clinton admitted Social Security was in trouble when he was in office...but now that a Republican is in the White House...no go.

Tony Blankley says the one threat Americans can do something about is...themselves.  He says American disunity is causing all sorts of problems in the War On Terror.

We hear all the time that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer....but as Dr. Walter E. Williams reports, poverty is nowhere near the problem it used to be.  Read on.

Columnist Mike Adams writes an open letter to Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to take issue with First Amendment violations by the president of Georgia Tech.  Perhaps the governor will write back....or not.

This should make us all feel better....the Department of Homeland Security has issued guidelines for cleaning up after a dirty bomb, or what they call an "improvised nuclear device."  Maybe people will pay attention this time.

From the department of silly products, soy sauce dispensing chopsticks.

18 Tricks to Teach Your Body

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!

BOORTZ BLAST NEWSLETTER
Everyone is talking about the Boortz Blast newsletter. Do you want yours? Sign up here and we'll deliver it directly to your inbox every 2 weeks. If you signed up but aren't receiving it, either your company or your spam filter could be keeping it from you. Try using a personal email address and check your spam filter's junk folder for wayward newsletters.

NEAL'S FANS GET TOGETHER
If you like Neal and are looking for like minded people to hang out with online or off, check out these places:

• Talkmaster Yahoo Group
• alt.fan.neal.boortz newsgroup (note, you're going to have to figure out newsgroups all on your own)

Belinda Skelton, Ken Rogers, Laura Nunemaker and Brian Ganey assist in the daily preparation of Nealz Nuze!