NEAL'S OUT SICK TODAY

Today the TalkMaster is out sick. Rather than sit around twiddling our thumbs, the staff has come up with a few notes for you. Hopefully he'll be up to tackling the issues and the callers tomorrow.

BUSH COMES OUT SWINGING

In a surprise press conference yesterday morning, George W. Bush walked into the press briefing room at the White House and held a one-hour press conference.  He came out swinging and took on the critics point by point.  Here are some of the high spots:

• On a time line for withdrawing from Iraq, you can forget it.  He said that decision will be made by future presidents. In other words, the troops will be there at least until Noon on January 20, 2009.  Perhaps he'll change his mind if Republicans in Congress take a bath in this fall's elections.



• On whether the much-maligned Donald Rumsfeld should resign, you can forget that too.  Said Bush of Rummy: "I don't believe he should resign. He's done a fine job. Every war plan looks good on paper until you meet the enemy."  So he's safe.



• On the economy:  "Productivity is strong. Inflation is contained. Household net worth is at an all-time high."  He's absolutely right.  Don't forget low unemployment.

He was also asked if he wanted war in Iraq from the start.  Said the president:  "I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong ... with all due respect.  No president wants war."  And then on the subject of whether or not he should shake up his staff, he shot that down too.  He says he's happy with the staff he's surrounded with.

So in other words, the media and the left can stick it...and Bush is going to stay the course.  One thing's for sure..you can give this White House points for persistence.

HELEN THOMAS GETS HERS

For the first time in over a year, President Bush called on Helen Thomas yesterday.  In case you don't know who Helen Thomas is, she's considered the dean of the White House press corps. She's been there longer than anyone else.  In fact, Helen Thomas has been attending presidential press conferences for 160 years, beginning with the Polk administration. 

Helen is a liberal.  No, not just any liberal...she's a hardcore leftist...an extremist.  She probably makes Michael Moore look like a centrist.  She also hates George W. Bush...with a passion.  So Bush has ignored her.  At one point, he moved her chair from the front row to the back.  Helen didn't like that very much, calling Bush a "coward." 

So anyway, Bush calls on her yesterday, and here was her question:

Helen Thomas: "I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet -- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth -- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil -- quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?"

Bush handled his response well...he had to interrupt her a few times to get in his answer.  He should call on her more...liven things up a bit.  One thing's for sure: Helen Thomas behaves in public like an escaped mental patient.

BIPOLAR JUSTICE SYSTEM

Alright...this smoking hot teacher down in Florida walks after molesting her 14-year-old student.  The kid wouldn't testify..so the prosecutor decided he had no case and she walked.  Good for her.  If it had been a male teacher that molested a 14-year-old girl, he would have been thrown in jail and they would have tossed the key.  So she walks away from this with just three years of house arrest and 7 years of probation, from the the first charge in another county.  No jail time for Debra LaFave.  Even though the "victim" wouldn't testify, they could have still prosecuted her because she confessed.  But they didn't.  And so it goes.

Is it fair?  Not on your life.  But what is even more outrageous is the little press conference she held as she skated out of the courtroom yesterday.  She blamed the little affair with her student on bipolar disorder.  How convenient.  Society is supposed to just forgive her actions because she was bipolar.  Once again, the perp becomes the victim.  Don't we all feel sorry for Debra LaFave?

She says we should all read up on bipolar disorder.  Perhaps she should read up on dating in her own age group.  Sorry lady...don't sell crazy here. We're all stocked up.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Some people will go to extreme lengths to be able to drive in the carpool lane. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

R.W. Gillman sends in this link to a photo essay of Indians in South Dakota honoring servicemen killed in Iraq. It's a really beautiful memorial and interesting to see how it's done on the reservation.

Look, Rush loves the FairTax! Scroll down, it's towards the end of the transcript.

Did you know that the most repressive community in the U.S. can now determine what content on the internet is obscene? As long as one community finds ladies in bikinis obscene, off the internet they come! How do you like the Supreme Court now?

Video mashup of Winnie the Pooh and Apocalypse Now. [language]

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