I'll be on WBT/Charlotte again Friday morning at 9:05am ET. You can hear the show live or listen to podcasts of shows on Wednesday and Thursday at http://www.wbt.com/.
Emails from the show this morning:
Doug,
The government taking over businesses and dictating what type of cars are to be built is ridiculous. They can't even run the post office at a profit which is basically a monopoly. Some one for got to tell Obama he was elected president not King or Dictator. Obama, Pelosi, Frank and Dodd they must be stopped. Some one in Washington better wake up fast. ( Did you here Pelosi slip yesterday and refer to Barney Frank as Congresswoman Frank?) WBT needs to find a time slot for you. Have a great weekend.
***
"A UN panel of expert economists pressed Thursday for a new global currency reserve scheme to replace the volatile, dollar-based system and for coordinated steps by rich countries to stimulate their economies. .." This story said that I read today. The Treasury Secretary said earlier this week he is "open" to the idea. We are moving quickly down the road to a one world currency and the loss of U.S. soviernty. What is amazing is how little opposition have been generated so far.
The liberal news media continues to amaze me. Their opposition to any thing religious is more apparent every day. Especially on the Democratic party's cable network formerly known as MSNBC. From Newsbusters.org, here is the dialogue from a recent episode of "Hardball with Chris Matthews:"
Matthews: Does Palin Think McCain is the 'Anti-Christ?'
By Geoffrey Dickens March 26, 2009 - 18:59
An offended Chris Matthews, on Thursday night's "Hardball," was so shocked by Sarah Palin's claim that there wasn't anybody to pray with on the McCain campaign, that he hurled multiple insults Palin's way, calling her, "a little scary," and asked if Palin thought McCain was, "the Anti-Christ?" Matthews was appalled by Palin's recent revelation that she had trouble finding someone to pray with before her vice presidential debate and the MSNBC host worried such talk about "The Deity in a political environment," wasn't "normal."
Matthews' guest panelists also joined in the fray as the Washington Post's Lois Romano declared, "I think it's bizarre and I think it's judgmental," and Mother Jones magazine's David Corn cackled it was "mean and catty." RNC chair Michael Steele was also knocked for a recent profession of faith, as Matthews blurted: "Why does everything sound like the '700 Club,' with this party now? I mean everything seems to be a religious discussion."
Matthews and his panel didn't just stop at insulting Palin's religious beliefs, they also belittled Palin for her hand gestures and attractiveness. Over video of Palin waving at a campaign rally Matthews ridiculed: "You know, doing that windshield wiper wave though is not serious. That's not a serious wave. I'm sorry that's not what you do when you want to lead the free world. That's, that's more like, 'I'm a celebrity and people like me.'
And just before that snide comment from Matthews, Romano and Corn dismissed Palin for her looks.
An AP story this afternoon says that the U.S. Senate is reviewing how College Football chooses its National Champion. This is as silly as when Congress held hearings about steriods in Major League Baseball. They have NO business being involved in competitive sports. Title IX was a disaster for major Universities as the government tried to force fairness. Many schools have less competitive sports because they can't afford to fund many women's programs to make it even. Whether we like it or not, women's sports at most Universities do not generate enough revenue to pay for itself. Now, Sen. Hatch of Utah wants a review because University of Utah went undefeated last year and didn't play for the National Title. With unemployment in some locales reaching double-digits, can Congress at least appear to be doing serious business? Like the story above calling for a global currency, can the Senate afford to spend time on meaningless issues when President Obama is trying to "remake America."
No wonder President Obama wants to bail out newspapers as part of the economic recovery act of 2009. They continue to try to bail out who is known as the "teleprompter president." This rationalization this morning from the Washington Post posted at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ says it all:
What the Teleprompter TeachesBy Michael Gerson
WASHINGTON -- It is amazing how swiftly a presidential tendency turns from observation to joke to meme. Barack Obama -- called "the most eloquent political speaker of our time" -- has become known as the teleprompter president.
The issue gathered momentum when Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen read 20 seconds of Obama's teleprompter remarks at a White House ceremony before realizing his mistake. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, at her nomination as head of Health and Human Services, was made to wait in awkward silence while Obama's teleprompter was adjusted. Then came Obama's use of the big-screen autocue at Tuesday night's news conference.
Coverage by Ron Fournier of The Associated Press began: "What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference?" A recent Politico story asserted, "President Barack Obama doesn't go anywhere without his teleprompter," calling it a "crutch." And in a popular new blog, Obama's teleprompter playfully chronicles its day.
If anyone is to blame for this technological dependence, it is probably Fred Barton, an actor from the 1950s. As author Laurie Brown tells the story, Barton was having trouble memorizing the vast number of lines required for live television. So he conceived of a scrolling screen of typed text -- an idea he shared with Irving Berlin Kahn (the composer's nephew) and Hub Schlafly at 20th Century Fox. Soon the device was used by Milton Berle and actors in various soap operas. In 1952, Schlafly got a call from a man identified simply as the "Chief" who wanted a meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria. It turned out to be former President Herbert Hoover, who ended up using a teleprompter for his remarks at that year's Republican convention.
For politicians, the teleprompter has always been something of an embarrassing vice -- the political equivalent of purchasing cigarettes, Haagen-Dazs and a Playboy at the convenience store.
This derision is based on the belief that the teleprompter exaggerates the gap between image and reality -- that it involves a kind of deception. It is true that there is often a distinction between a president on and off his script. With a teleprompter, Obama can be ambitiously eloquent; without it, he tends to be soberly professorial. Ronald Reagan with a script was masterful; during news conferences he caused much wincing and cringing. It is the rare politician, such as Tony Blair, who speaks off the cuff in beautifully crafted paragraphs.
But it is a mistake to argue that the uncrafted is somehow more authentic. Those writers and commentators who prefer the unscripted, who use "rhetoric" as an epithet, who see the teleprompter as a linguistic push-up bra, do not understand the nature of presidential leadership or the importance of writing to the process of thought.
Governing is a craft, not merely a talent. It involves the careful sorting of ideas and priorities. And the discipline of writing -- expressing ideas clearly and putting them in proper order -- is essential to governing. For this reason, the greatest leaders have taken great pains with rhetoric. Lincoln continually edited and revised his speeches. Churchill practiced to the point of memorization. Such leaders would not haven been improved by being "unplugged." When it comes to rhetoric, winging it is often shoddy and self-indulgent -- practiced by politicians who hear Mozart in their own voices while others perceive random cymbals and kazoos. Leaders who prefer to speak from the top of their heads are not more authentic, they are often more shallow -- not more "real," but more undisciplined.
This is the lasting contribution of Fred Barton and his teleprompter. The speechwriting process that puts glowing words on the teleprompter screen serves a number of purposes. Struggling over the precise formulations of a text clarifies a president's own thinking. It allows others on his staff to have input -- to make their case as a speech is edited. The final wording of a teleprompter speech often brings internal policy debates to a conclusion. And good teamwork between a president and his speechwriters can produce memorable rhetoric -- the kind of words that both summarize a historical moment and transform it.
Obama's goal at his recent news conference was less elevated -- to express his thoughts on the economy with precision, as he faces a crisis in which a stray word could have a tremendous cost.
During a wobbly first two months, Obama has had many problems. But using an autocue isn't one of them. A teleprompter speech represents the elevation of writing in politics. And good writing has an authenticity of its own.
Newsmax is pointing out that many Democrats in Congress are having problems with President Obama's spending plans. There are some defections. A letter from these democrats was sent to the President. We'll have to keep our eyes on this one.
You and I can prove where we were born. Shouldn't the President who has a grandmother that said he was born in Kenya? That brings up questions as to whether Obama actually qualifies to be President under the U.S. Constitution. This joke that Vice-President Biden said the other day claiming that Dick Cheney left an envelope for him with Obama's birth certificate got me thinking. Was Biden, who was speaking in front an audience that included California Gov. Arnold Schartzenegger(an immigrant) subtly suggesting that Obama is an immigrant and therefore not qualified under the "natural born citizen" clause of the U.S. Constitution?
