NO .. I DIDN'T GO PLAY AUGUSTA

Actually ... this was easy compared to getting to the first tee at Augusta.

Yesterday I was privileged to make my second visit to the Oval Office to have a conversation with President George Bush with several other radio talk show hosts.

Now .. just so you know. When a reporter for the Washington Post, CNN or any of the big three broadcast networks is invited to spend some time in an off-the-record conversation with the president, that's all hunky dory. But when a conservative (I'm now sure they know I'm a libertarian) talk show host is invited to discuss issues with the president, we're simply there to get our talking points and marching orders.

The ground rules were simple. We could discuss our impressions of the visit. We can reveal the matters that were discussed. But we are not allowed to quote the president. There were also elements to the conversation that we've been asked not to repeat.

I'm back in Atlanta now, still trying to gather my thoughts and save as many of my impressions on paper as I can. The things that I learned and the discussions we engaged in will color my conversations on such things as Iraq, health care policy, tax policy and the general political climate for months to come.

As many of you know, I made a similar visit last September. My principal impression this time mirrored what I told you last year. Anybody who thinks that this president is, somehow, ignorant or stupid is either sadly misinformed or delusional. Let the left think this man is unintelligent at their peril. I was particularly impressed by his grasp of the political and cultural interactions among the various Muslim sects and countries of the Middle East.

Another observation ... actually a reinforcement of what I felt after last September's visit. This man was completely transformed by the 9/11 Islamic attacks against our country. From the moment he heard of the attack in that classroom in Florida to this day he has been completely dedicated to the cause of protecting and defending our country from another such attack.

GOOD NEWS IS BAD NEWS ... FOR DEMOCRATS

House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn said a good report from Gen. Petraeus in Iraq would split Democrats in the House and make it difficult to pass a timetable to end the war. Democrats are going further to say that good news from Petraeus would actually be bad for our country.

Are you listening here? How long have I and other talk show hosts been telling you that Democrats are invested in failure in Iraq? Haven't you heard us tell you day after day, ad nauseum, that good news in Iraq is bad news for Democrats? I can still hear the insults thrown my way by Democrats every time I actually said that the left was eagerly seeking bad news from Iraq, and dreading the good. Well, now you see it. They're not hiding. There was good news from Iraq this week.

There may well be more good news from General Petraeus in September. That means more bad news for liberals.

Democrats are showing us with their every word and grimace that what is good news for our country, what is good news for the war against Islamic terror, what is god news for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what is good news for the cause of peace - real peace - and stability in the Middle East is bad news, really bad news, for Democrats. Many of these people with that "D" after their names would gladly sacrifice any semblance of victory in Iraq and against the scourge of Islamic fascism if it would mean maintaining and strengthening their hold on power in Washington.. and willing the presidency.

Has there ever before been a time in America where a major political party would virtually pray for our defeat in a war so that they could demonize the leader of the opposition and turn that defeat into victory for them at the polls? Well, you're seeing just that right now.

There are 47 "Blue Dog" Democrats in the House that may not support a timetable for withdrawal if Gen. Petraeus delivers a positive report. Thus, Democrats will never get their defeatocrat wishes of hasty withdrawal. These right-think Democrats need a word of support.

I UNDERSTAND THAT ....

...... Nancy Pelosi showed some cleavage on the floor of the House yesterday. God, I'm such a happy man. Isn't it nice that everything is going so welel that we have nothing better to do than to keep a lookout for congressional or candidate cleavage?

REMEMBER .. HATE SPEECH IS ONLY HEARD ON TALK RADIO

So, how's this for reasonable rhetoric from the left? Earl Pomery, a Democrat representative from North Dakota has been caught on tape calling President Bush a "clown" and telling some questioners in Washington that he "can't stand this president."

Now .. let me say that I can't stand Hillary Clinton. Let me call her a clown ... and see how fast my statements are called "hate speech."

By the way ... I'm not going to say Hillary is a clown. I like clowns. I don't like Hillary. In fact, I can't stand her.

Uh oh. Here come the Media Myrmidons.

THE ROAD TO GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE

Democrats are trying to broaden health care coverage to include millions of middle-income citizens that are capable of providing their own private health care.

Yesterday in the Senate, an amendment failed that would have cut government funds (your tax dollars) to provide healthcare for middle-income children and adults without children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The program was originally supposed to cover poor children, not middle income children. Now the Democrats want to expand this coverage, and Republicans have failed to block it.

Meanwhile, in the House, the Democrats are trying to expand the SCHIP program to middle income families.. including parents. The effect of this expansion would be twofold: First, many middle income families who already carry health insurance would drop that insurance like a radioactive roach and sign on the toe SCHIP welfare version. Second, costs would soar .. into the hundreds of billions of dollars in no time flat.

In the House the Democrats have been trying to ram through these changes without allowing the Republicans to offer any amendments to the bill, and without affording the opposition any meaningful time to argue against the bill on the floor.

What we're seeing here is simply an attempt to bring Hillarycare - socialized medicine - quietly through the back door. The couldn't do it in one swell foop under Hillary, now they'll just try to do it incrementally.

Remember the prime motivation here. It is NOT to provide health care to children. No children are denied healthcare under our present system. The motivation is to make more and more people dependent on government for their health care. That is exactly what happens when millions of Americans drop their privately held health insurance plans and opt to go into a government welfare health care plan like SCHIP. Once these people are dependent on government, instead of themselves, for their healthcare, politicians have them by the short hairs.

The Democrats, of course, have adopted their typical "for the children" tact whining that Republican opposition means that those evil nasty republicans want to deny essential health care to our precious children. Children .. .the Trojan Horse in the Democrats plan for an endless expansion of government and the eventual enslavement of the American people.

Bush is threatening to veto the bill if this expansion is included, saying it is too expensive and inappropriately takes money away from private health insurance.

ISLAM IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

Do you remember Carver Elementary School? It is the San Diego government school that created Islamic prayer time, segregated classes and pulled pork off the lunch menu ... simply to cater to Muslim students.

Well Superintendent Carl Cohn says that there were reasons for many of the changes and that people misunderstood what was going on. Yeah ... they misunderstood. Perhaps the problem was that they understood all too well what was going on. At any rate, the superintendent is reversing some of the decisions.

Teachers cannot encourage or discourage any form of voluntary prayer, nor take part in any prayers.

Recess will be for any activities, including praying.

Classes will not be scheduled to accommodate a Muslim prayer time. Students can take their mid-day prayers at lunch if they wish.

There will be no single-sex classes to placate Islamic sensibilities..

And as for the pork, well that's staying off the menu because it isn't "well-accepted."

Officials estimate that it cost tax payers $450,000 to make and then unmake the changes at Carver Elementary.

BARACK'S FOREIGN POLICY

Question: How many of you actually think that we don't have troops - Special Forces troops - in Pakistan right now? Just the same, Obama made a point of criticizing Bush for his leadership in the war on terror. In a "Hmmm, I've heard this type of stuff before" moment Obama told us that we, as Americans, are in more danger now because Buck removed Saddam Hussein from power.

In that one moment Obama illustrated vividly that he is not seasoned enough, or perhaps just flat-out not qualified, to be our president.

TRANSGENDER? LET THE GOVERNMENT PAY!

An inmate in the Idaho Department of Correction decided that he no longer wanted to be a man. While in prison, he demanded his named be changed to Jenniffer Spencer (yes that's two "f"s and two "n"s).

State prison physicians refused to prescribe the inmate estrogen, so he castrated himself using a disposable razor blade. (Damn, I wish more prisoners would do that.)

Well, now he's suing. He says that his constitutional rights have been violated? Which right? The right to estrogen, I guess.

In the meantime, a judge determined that the tax payers must pay for his psychotherapy treatment of his sexual confusion and physicians must provide him estrogen until his trial, which has yet to be scheduled.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

If a redneck invites you to his hunting lodge for the weekend, you may want to ask to see photos first. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Thomas Sowell takes a look at Harry Reid's urgency to pull troops out of Iraq. Could it be because good news in Iraq means bad news for Democrats? Duhhhhhh.

In the Democratic polls, Hillary's criticism of Obama's foreign policy may be losing her support ... at least that's what Dick Morris thinks.

Even though the homeland security bill now includes the $3 billion for border security (which Democrats initially rejected), Bush may still veto because of $2.2 billion of excess pork included in the bill.

CAIR's latest ... an attack on Robert Spencer - writing on Islam and director of Jihad Watch. They tried to have his speech today at the Young America's Foundation cancelled.

Rumsfeld was questioned for four hours yesterday by a House committee, denying that he covered-up the specifics of the death of Pat Tillman.

Tony Blankley does an excellent job of putting the Iraq was in a historical perspective.

President Bush is pressuring Democrats to pass legislation on expanding the government's electronic wiretapping powers before the August recess.

In Sydney, Australia they are installing terrorism-alert speakers to tell people what to do in case of an attack.

Singer Gwen Stefani has been branded "moral decay" by a Muslim student group, and is asking for authorities to cancel her Malaysian concert tour.

A man without arms and most of his legs insists on driving ... and now he's going to jail.

Neal referred to Nick Nolte being caught drunk in an airport. Here's more on that in case you care.

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