PAKISTAN'S EMERGENCY RULE

The President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, declared emergency rule on Saturday. He suspended the constitution and fired the chief justice, giving himself virtually absolute power over the country. He says he did it because of the growth of a militant Islamic movement and a court system that hindered his powers. But the timing of this suggests that Musharraf wants to extend his rule as president and army chief ... the Supreme Court was expected to rule next week whether Musharraf has the right to another presidential term.

The courts tried to block Musharraf's implementation of emergency rule ... those justices were immediately removed from the bench. Musharraf deployed army rangers to the streets and arrested opposition figures, turning government buildings into barbed-wire compounds. He also blacked out privately owned TV stations.

It was just Friday when I said to keep your eye on this story about Muslim extremists expanding their control in Pakistan ... not a day later, Musharraf got on TV and delivered a 50-minute speech saying that this is the only way to handle the growing attacking of Islamic extremists. But then he went on to justify his actions by quoting none other than Abraham Lincoln. Musharraf said that America's 16th president had broken laws, violated the U.S. Constitution and trampled individual liberties to keep the country together during the Civil War.

Since 2001 and becoming a U.S. ally, Musharraf has received $11 billion in U.S. aid. Condoleezza Rice says that Washington is now reviewing its aid to Pakistan in light of the new emergency measures. Britain is also trying to figure out what to do with the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid it also gives to Pakistan.

There's a few things to watch here ...

First, if this crisis results in Islamic radicals, perhaps headed by Osama bin Laden, gaining control in Pakistan, would this mean that these Islamic radicals would finally have what they've been coveting for so long? That, of course, would be their hands on a nuclear weapon. Just what does our country need to do, if anything, to keep this from happening?

Another thought: For a few years our intelligence forces have been fairly certain that bin Laden was hiding in the tribal regions of Pakistan. This is the very region from which these Islamic radicals who are upsetting Musharraf so are from. The story has been that we could not move against these tribal areas to rid the world of Osama bin Laden because it might loosen Musharraf's tenuous hold on power. Under the present circumstances ... are we free to move on bin Laden now?

And finally; note please that as soon as Musharraf felt himself to be threatened, and then decided to respond to that threat with extra ordinary measures ... he seized control of the means of mass communication: That would be radio and television. TV news networks off the air, as is Pakistan controlled television. Telephone service was interrupted. I've mentioned many times that control the dissemination of information is rule number one for maintaining power.

Could this possibly be the reason that we see so many Democrats talking about the various ways the power of the U.S. government can be used to control, if not destroy, conservative talk radio?

HILLARY GETS HER HANDS ON THE FAIRTAX BOOK

....but she doesn't seem all that happy about it, does she? Or maybe that sour look is standard when she isn't cackling.

IF YOU'RE SURPRISED, PLEASE DON'T RAISE YOUR HAND ...

... we wouldn't want you to appear to be that stupid in front of your friends and coworkers.

The world's busiest airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield International, is building a new International terminal. The original projected cost of this terminal was about $750 million dollars. Earlier this year the estimate was one billion. Now we're at $1.5 billion, and climbing. My guess? Well over $2 billion by the time it is done.

Reasons? Basically one. It's a government operation. This means that most of the people and companies working on the project are being paid a lot more than they would be paid if this was a private enterprise.

Oh .. by the way ... not that most of you care, but we in Atlanta certainly do. Even though the airport does not lie within city limits, it is owned and operated by the City of Atlanta. Hartsfield has been a center for graft and corruption ever since I moved here ... and the taxpayers don't get one dime of revenue. Many years ago then Mayor Andrew Young suggested privatizing Hartsfield. He suggested that the income derived from a private entity operating Hartsfield could wipe out property taxes on homes in Atlanta. No go. Since that time there have been sever studies which have shown that leasing Hartsfield to a private operator could earn billions for the city. No go.

Why no go? Because Atlanta City Council members aren't about to give up the power they derive from running the world's busiest airport. Power over principal. Simple as that.

CHAVEZ FOREVER

Hugo Chavez, like Musharraf, is interested in one thing: keeping his power by staying in office. To no one's surprise, Venezuela's pro-government National Assembly approved Chavez's constitutional reforms on Friday. There are 69 changes to the constitution. The changes now go to the citizens for a vote on December 2nd.

The reforms would greatly expand the power of the President, and it would permit Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely. The amendments would also allow the government to seize private property prior to a court ruling, and it would give the government total control over the Central Bank. The so-called "reforms" would also create new types of property managed by the government.

"Chavistas" (the president's supporters) are excited about the reforms because it creates neighborhood-based assemblies called "communal councils," which supposedly have more decision making power under Chavez's new "21st-century Socialism."

A few other changes ... protecting socialists concepts in the constitution, reducing the minimum voting age from 18 to 16-years-old, and increasing the number of signatures required for a presidential recall vote.

Meanwhile, here is the New York Times' latest love letter to Hugo Chavez, saying that "Chavez is a genius of a politician."

Let's see how the election goes on December 2nd. Will Jimmy Carter be down there to pronounce the election fair and above-board so as to avoid violence? That was the tactic he used during a recall election for Chavez several years ago. The corruption was widespread and obvious - but there was Carter calling everything hunky-dory. Insiders told us the Carter "fact finding" was aimed solely at avoiding violence in Caracas.

THE WATERBOARDING DEBATE

U.S. intelligence officers confirm that waterboarding has only been used on three al Qaeda figures. The technique hasn't been used since 2003 and been prohibited by General Michael Hayden since he took over the CIA. Officials say that approval from the White House to remove waterboarding from the list of approved interrogation techniques came sometime last year, but has never been publicly disclosed by the CIA.

Now, the most extreme technique left for CIA interrogators to use is "longtime standing," which includes exhaustion and sleep deprivation as prisoners are forced to stand with their feet shackled to the floor.

CIA officials say the most effective use of waterboarding was in breaking Khalid Sheikh Muhammed, who ultimately took responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and other al Qaeda terror plots including the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. A senior CIA official says that it was only because of waterboarding that Mohammed talked.

I have yet to see any compelling evidence that waterboarding actually amounts to torture. So .. the guy thinks he might drown. Does he drown? No. Does he nearly drown? No, again. Is there any real physical harm? Don't think so. If we define torture as making someone think that something bad is going to happen to them ... then what do we really have left?

Let's say it again: If someone has information that might save thousands of Americans from imminent harm ... do what you have to do.

YOU KNOW ......

... it's been a while since we've brought you some listener email here on Nealz Nuze. So ... enjoy!

Subject: SANFRAN
Name: matthew
Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message:
Mr Boortz, I am deployed in Tikrit, Iraq as a Govt Agent (fed employee) for weapons and equipment for the Dept of the Army. I am a retired Marine Warrant Officer. I am based out of Fort Bragg, NC and listen to your show when I have the rare opportunity. I hope that more attention and coverage is being brought to the radical protestors and liberal people in San Francisco! They ban my Fellow Marines from doing an advertisement there, and do not allow a Warship to dock there! This is ludicrous! I believe more of our grass roots base need to shout them down and vote the liberals out of power! Semper FI Sir. Matt

HOLLYWOOD WRITER'S STRIKE

OK ... so they're on strike. Unless you work in the industry, if this has any impact at all on your life then you have problems. You really do need to work on getting a life.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Painting your house? Well clearly you'll need this set up. And this isn't the first time a redneck has had a go at scaffolding here in the ol' scrapbook. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Let's start the reading assignments here. Apparently I have caused one Patrick Lockyer a great deal of discomfort. Now admittedly, this man has some superlative credentials. He slept on a sidewalk once to see a coronation. He drove Queen Elizabeth, and he was a driving instructor for 25 years. So ... read his account of listening to me for a few hours on the radio. Oh .. and make note of how he has signed on to the leftist idea that any idea one disagrees with simply has to be based in HATE!

Dennis "I really saw an alien" Kucinich announced that this week he will move forward with his resolution calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney. Like that's going anywhere.

The angry left has found someone new to hate! Well, come on! After all, George Bush isn't going to be around for all that much longer ... so the new designee is, according to Philip Klein, Rudy!

John McCain says that he "learned his lesson on illegal immigration," and now he says that he will put border security first. Apparently he still needs to work on the rest.

This week France's President Nicolas Sarkozy will make his first official trip to the United States.

Cap. Cormier Michel is the commander of hundreds of International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan. He has now decided to convert to Islam after spending 10 months in Afghanistan, and he has changed his name to Abdul Wahed. His wife in the U.S. asks that he not marry any other women.

A candidate for Australia's Senate is calling for a moratorium on Muslim immigration, because they have "no intention of being Australian." Wish we had the guts to do that here.

California Senator Barbara Boxer delivered a speech on the Senate floor linking global warming to ... the San Diego wildfires, Darfur, the imminent loss of the world's polar bears and even a poor 14-year-old boy who died from "an infection caused after swimming in Lake Havasu," because its water is warmer. By the way, we have more Polar Bears now .. not less. Not that the facts mean anything to Moonbat Boxer

Even the UK recognizes that serious success in Iraq is not being recognized as it should be.

New federal legislation could designate many New Hampshire and Massachusetts towns as Freedom's Way Heritage Areas. If approved, they will ask for $1 million a year to help the communities identify their cultural and historical heritage and figure out how to protect and promote it. This makes me feel so much better about paying my taxes.

A think tank released its latest report on global warming, comparing the consequences of "climate change" with the Cold War doomsday scenarios of a nuclear holocaust.

A judge has been removed from the Virginia Supreme Court for using a coin toss to decide which parent would get their child on Christmas.

A woman in Sheboygan, Wisconsin who runs a Web site that is often critical of the mayor has been ordered by the city to remove a link to the Sheboygan Police Department.

Passengers on a SriLankan Airlines flight refused to fly on a jet with its wing tip missing.

Organizers of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing have listed the Bible as a "prohibited object" for athletes in the Olympic Village.

And the Chinese are so excited for the upcoming Olympics that 3,500 children have been named "Olympics."

A professor at the University of Maine is offering extra credit to students who burn the American flag or the U.S. Constitution or get arrested for defending free speech.

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